D+
Washington Commanders
The Commanders let Stukes fall and pounced. Final grade: D+.
by jj ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
The Commanders lost the trade war and it was not close, handing partners the better end again and again.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up. The cost of the Graves reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
They banked enough surplus on Stukes to cover a lot of smaller sins.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and tight end is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 12 they get a three-down runner, outstanding value to boot.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Dillon Thieneman in the Round 2 slot. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Jake Slaughter slipping to pick 71 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had Elijah Sarratt higher than Round 3, Pick 27, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Treydan Stukes in the 126th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Dametrious Crownover at the 147th overall pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They paid a round early for Aaron Graves in the Round 6 slot, more than the board wanted. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jeff Caldwell at the 209th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They paid sticker price for Aiden Fisher in the 223rd pick, and that is fine. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.