D
Washington Commanders
Larceny in pick No. 209 lands the Commanders a D, Trost and all.
by The Top Cat ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
The phones were a trap the Commanders kept walking into, shipping out surplus on nearly every deal.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher. Reaching for Payne left real value on the table behind him. Trost falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
Wide receiver is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, edge rusher very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a three-down runner. A clean fit for the roster.
Fair-plus on Elijah Sarratt, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Value with a capital V on DeMonte Capehart in slot 147, a genuine coup. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They jumped the gun on Nate Boerkircher, taking him earlier than his grade liked. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Charles Demmings at the 160th overall pick. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Domani Jackson in the 176th pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They liked VJ Payne enough to skip the value, taking him in pick 187. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Pat Coogan. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at pick No. 209 is the definition of value, full stop. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A reach for Miles Kitselman in the 223rd overall pick; a little patience would have been rewarded. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.