The NFL Draft is slowly approaching, and the Washington Commanders need to avoid these mistakes to give themselves the best chances at a successful draft.
With the Super Bowl in the rearview mirror, it is officially draft season in the NFL (although the Washington Commanders have been there for a while). That means we’re getting mock drafts and rumors a few times a day at this point. It also means we’re getting closer and closer to the excitement and dread that comes with the draft.
Every year, every single team does it. When the draft is over, they will have some fans thinking it was the greatest draft of all time, while others see one of the worst. People have different opinions on things, and we get to see all the fun takes from media and fans alike.
There are some things that people can agree on though. And sadly those are mostly the negatives. Mainly because the negatives are usually so glaringly obvious almost immediately after the draft.
They don’t always turn out bad, but a lot of the time they feel avoidable. And that doesn’t necessarily mean taking a bad player or passing up on anyone specific. There are plenty of mistakes that get made during drafts. And the Washington Commanders (is it cool if I call them that even though I’m talking past tense?) are no strangers to making mistakes around draft time.
Some of those mistakes feel like they are easily avoidable. Despite that, it seems like they get made pretty often. Not just by Washington, but by a lot of teams around the league.
So what mistakes do the Commanders need to try and avoid this time around?
Washington Commanders adding to the defensive line early
Let’s start with one that people complain about pretty often when it comes to the Commanders. Washington has an absolutely stacked defensive line. Stacked to the point that Matthew Ioannidis was maybe their best defensive lineman in 2020 and he was buried a bit in the depth chart in 2021.
It’s the kind of problem teams dream of. However, fans are a little tired of the team focusing on it when there are so many other problems on the team.
Washington currently has the aforementioned Ioannidis to go along with Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, and Da’Ron Payne. Ioannidis is the only one in that group that isn’t a first-round pick. And they’ve all come within the last five drafts. Great job building up the unit. But at the same time, maybe you could’ve found someone else in that time that could’ve bolstered other areas of much more desperate need.
So far, you can forgive them. When they first started adding the players, it was definitely a position of need. And by the time the 2020 NFL Draft rolled around, they were pretty set when it came to the defensive line. However, Chase Young landed in their lap. That felt like something they couldn’t pass up on.
At this point though, it shouldn’t even be a thought until the fifth round. Unless someone insane fell to the third or something, just stay away. Nothing really needs to be done here.
Focus on positions that actually need the help. Bolster the offensive line with some depth. Find defensive backs that could be game-changers. Get some big-time offensive weapons (they definitely need some of those).
A lot of people will preach “take the best player available”. Most of the time, that’s a good strategy. However, it doesn’t always make sense. This would be one of those times. Steer clear of defensive linemen for the first few rounds.
Washington Commanders playing it safe for no reason
In the past, the Washington Commanders have made some big trades to move up. One, in particular, is the one that saw them make a massive trade with the Los Angeles Rams to move up and take Robert Griffin III with the second overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
That trade ended up not working out all that well for Washington. Griffin III was incredible in his rookie year. But the magic sort of ended there. Injuries (among other things) led to the demise of RGIII in Washington. Meanwhile, the Rams used that stockpile of picks to turn their franchise around.
Due to that, it’s turned a lot of fans off to the idea of trading up to get someone in the first round.
Now, I’m not saying they should give away a haul like the one they did for Griffin III. That was pretty hefty. And if we’re being honest, there’s no quarterback in this draft that elicits the type of hype or excitement that RGIII did.
This isn’t an insult. There are quite a few quarterbacks in this class with a lot of potential. But no one is close to that level coming out of the draft this year. When Griffin III was a prospect, it was almost unanimously agreed upon that he would be a star.
That being said, don’t be afraid to move up. If you like someone at seven and don’t think he’ll be there at 11, go get him. Don’t let past failures stop you from making a move that can help the franchise.
Washington desperately needs a quarterback. Maybe they don’t think their number one at the position is going to be there when they draft, and they really like him. Your 2022 first and next year’s first might be worth it in the long run. I know you’ve been burned before when trading future picks, but if you draft with fear you might never get those superstar players you want.
Of course, that means we also have to talk about something else in this aspect though.
Washington Commanders gambling just to gamble
Don’t gamble on a trade just to gamble. Just because you feel like you need to make a big splash, doesn’t mean you have to do it.
If you think someone can truly help the team and might be a future star at whatever position, absolutely do it. However, if you are looking at the draft and see a quarterback is available but you aren’t really interested in him – why chase him?
Trading up for someone you aren’t in love with just spells disaster. Now you have someone that you don’t believe in 100%. Worse than that, you traded away multiple assets for him.
Fans want their team to make a big splash. Especially at the quarterback position. Most also understand that sometimes the right fit isn’t there though. And trading up to get someone that the organization isn’t invested in isn’t going to end well.
Trading up isn’t an exact science. People love to twist the story to fit their narratives all the time. Fans that want their team to take the risk will point to someone like Patrick Mahomes working out perfectly. However, fans against moving up could point to Mitchell Trubisky in that same draft not exactly panning out. Or they could point to the Griffin III trade for Washington.
But in reality, trading up is going to hit and miss. There are times that the team trading up will flourish because of it, and times when they will flounder and set themselves back a few more years.
It’s a risk, but it’s definitely one worth taking at times. Do not do it just to do it though. I understand from a GM, coach, and owner perspective why you might feel the pressure to do so. This is especially true for an organization that has been losing a lot (like Washington has the last few decades).
Fans get restless and if you don’t try and make big moves, they are only going to get more upset. This could lead to fans becoming disinterested, not buying tickets, not buying merchandise, and ultimately turning on the franchise (leading to people losing their jobs).
Don’t push the panic button though. There are plenty of options out there at whatever position you’re looking for (although let’s be honest if you’re making a blockbuster trade up move in the first round of the draft it’s usually for a QB).
Washington Commanders skimping on offensive weapons
This has been a problem for the Washington Commanders for a pretty long time. They have not had a very good offense in years. And it doesn’t help that they don’t seem too interested in adding weapons through the draft.
Yes, they’ve made some big additions through the draft in recent years. Those additions are few-and-far-in-between though. Let’s go through them, shall we?
In 2021 the Commanders took three “skill position players” on offense. They would be wide receiver Dyami Brown in the third, tight end John Bates in the fourth, and wide receiver Dax Milne in the seventh. Brown was expected to contribute immediately but Bates was brought in to be a backup tight end and Milne was depth.
2020 saw Washington take running back Antonio Gibson (there was a big addition) in the third and wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden in the fourth. Gandy-Golden didn’t do much of anything.
2019 brought them wide receiver Terry McLaurin in the third (major hit), running back Bryce Love in the fourth, and wide receiver Kelvin Harmon in the sixth. Love is already gone and Harmon is barely hanging on.
2018 was running back Derrius Guice in the second round (big yikes) and wide receiver Trey Quinn in the seventh. Both are gone.
2017 gave them running back Samaje Perine in the fourth and wide receiver Robert Davis in the sixth. Again, both are already gone.
2016 was the last time Washington took a skill position player on offense in the first round. It didn’t work out well, it being Josh Doctson. And maybe that scared them off for a bit when it comes to that.
Now, I’m not saying Washington has to take a skill position in the first. And I’m not saying it’s all their fault that some of those players didn’t work out. But the point is, they have made very little effort to add through the draft. The fact that they’ve taken one skill position player before the third round since 2016 is absolutely wild. Most years it feels like they barely tried.
That’s all fine and dandy if you’re making major splashes in free agency or have tons of talent on your roster already. We all know that hasn’t been what the Commanders were doing in recent years though. Especially not at those positions.
Go after a wide receiver early. You have a few needs, and offensive playmaker is definitely one of them – especially after seriously disappointing years from Brown and free agent acquisition Curtis Samuel in 2021.
Washington Commanders drafting two quarterbacks
This is something the Washington Commanders have done before. Famously, they took Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the same year they took RGIII. That was weird. They had already traded away a lot of future picks, and only had one pick between the two quarterbacks in that draft – they took offensive guard Josh LeRibeus.
Another perfect example of Washington not utilizing the draft to add offensive weapons. In a draft where they lost a lot of future picks and took their franchise quarterback, they took just as many other QBs (1) as they did offensive weapons (1). That one weapon was running back Alfred Morris, which worked out really well – but it still proves the point.
You could be sitting there thinking that it makes no sense to tell them to avoid taking two QBs. I have one example in recent times, it’s not like it’s a pattern of bad behavior that they exhibit. There are a few reasons it felt necessary to bring this up though.
First of all, there is a pretty alarming amount of fans on Twitter making mock drafts that feature multiple quarterbacks. Even worse, they have them selecting those multiple quarterbacks in the first two rounds.
This hurts the team a lot. And it brings me to the other points. Washington has other needs, including offensive weapons. Taking two quarterbacks takes away one of those picks that could’ve been used to help your first QB. Or maybe some defense to take some of the pressure off your QB (Benjamin St-Juste was a really solid addition to the secondary in the third round of last year’s draft for example).
It also immediately plants that seed of doubt. You could try and say they are professionals and it doesn’t bother them. But if you got hired for a job and then a few hours later your boss informed you that they hired someone else for the same position in case you struggle, you’d be paranoid and feel like they don’t trust you.
This also is going to split the fanbase. And the Commanders fans don’t need help with that. Remember how fun Twitter was during the RGIII-Cousins days? You couldn’t say a single good or bad thing about one without 50 people screaming at you. It was mayhem.
Now you have fans actively hoping a QB fails. They’ll pretend they aren’t but they’re very quick to point out whenever the QB they don’t like does something that isn’t 100% perfect. And you might not think this hurts the team, but do you really think the players don’t see it? Do you really think it creates a good environment at the games? Are fans actively against a QB just because they like the backup better?
There are simply too many issues that come with taking two quarterbacks. You’re making the path to success for the first selection that much harder. He’s also going to never feel comfortable. And you’re going to have the fans against each other. We’ve seen that Washington Commanders show before and no one enjoyed it. It helps no one.