Washington Commanders steal Cole Turner on Day 3

The Washington Commanders selected tight end Cole Turner in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Let’s grade the pick.

Things are picking up a bit for the Washington Commanders in their last few turns on the clock. They had two selections in the fifth round. And in the first of those two, they brought in a quarterback prospect with Sam Howell.

Now they’re adding some weapons with tight end Cole Turner at 149th overall. Let’s grade the pick.

Washington could definitely use some help when it came to offensive weapons. Well, they focused on that pretty nicely so far in this draft. Four of their six picks so far have been offensive players.

Wide receiver Jahan Dotson was a first-round selection, and running back Brian Robinson Jr. came over in the third round.

In the fifth we saw Howell, and now Turner. Turner is an athletic pass catcher. That’s exactly what Washington needed at the position. Logan Thomas enjoyed a breakout year in 2020.

And in 2021 he looked every bit as good when he was healthy. The issue is, that was rarely. Thomas appeared in just six games, and multiple of those saw him leave early. A torn ACL ended his year.

The Commanders did draft John Bates last year, but he’s not really seen as much of a threat in the passing game.

Bates did look pretty decent in that area, but he has a pretty clear ceiling. Turner has the athleticism and insane size (6’7″, 249 lbs) to be an absolute problem. A major headache in the red zone obviously, but could be more than just that.

For now, if he’s relegated to red zone opportunities though, Turner could still contribute nicely.

There are some questions about his hands, but everything else is a positive. So if he can work on that, it’s hard to see many ways to slow him down.

The Washington Commanders already have a good tight end in Logan Thomas. There are a lot of questions surrounding him right now though, and Cole Turner has legit potential to be a serious stud. Good value in a fifth-round pick.

Final Grade: B+