ASHBURN, Va. — The pressure is real for first-year general manager Adam Peters as he’s been entrusted by managing partner Josh Harris and the rest of the Washington Commanders ownership group to lead the franchise into a new era of winning football.
So far, most everyone is giving Peters and the Commanders high marks after hiring Dan Quinn as the head coach, fleshing out a top-notch staff, and even for the long list of free agent moves the team made leading up to the NFL Draft.
With the draft now in the books, Washington has added nine new players in nine different positions. None more important than the quarterback, Jayden Daniels.
Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels poses after being selected by
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
“He’s special in every way on the field, off the field,” Peters said about Daniels. “I honestly couldn’t believe how good he was and saw him on TV. I saw him on highlights and everything, but when you really study him as a quarterback, just as a quarterback, he’s really, really good. And just the way (he) can process, the way (he) can see the field go through reads, deliver on time, deliver with the pressure in his face, take a hit, deliver a third down pass and move the chains. He’s the best deep ball thrower we thought in the draft.”
UPDATED COMMANDERS DRAFT CLASS
1st Round, No. 2: QB Jayden Daniels, LSU
2nd Round, No. 36: DT Johnny Newton, Illinois
2nd Round, No. 50: CB Mike Sainristil, Michigan
2nd Round, No. 53: TE Ben Sinnott, Kansas State
3rd Round, No. 67: OL Brandon Coleman, TCU
3rd Round, No. 100: WR Luke McCaffrey, Rice
5th Round, No. 139: LB Jordan Magee, Temple
5th Round, No. 161: SAF Dominique Hampton, Washington
7th Round, No. 222: EDGE Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Notre Dame
“I feel like we added our kind of football players,” said assistant general manager Lance Newmark at the conclusion of the weekend. “Coach (Dan) Quinn has a saying that, ‘this isn’t for everybody,’ and we drafted the kind of people that fit what we do here and that believe in what we believe in and just added a lot of those kind of character people to our building and to our organization. So I think that’s where we improved the most is we added a lot of people that believe in what we believe in and had the same goal that we have in the end.”
This first draft for Peters as a GM and Newmark as an assistant GM will set each of their paths onto a course toward success or failure, and for as much pressure as there surely is there’s an equal amount of optimism and promise.
There are certainly questions still to be answered as many are surprised the team wasn’t more aggressive about addressing their offensive line needs, and there are other positions that could certainly use an influx of talent.
But when you inherit a four-win team it’s important to find and keep, or find and add, the right players for the mission ahead.
Peters and Newmark clearly feel they’ve done that this weekend and offseason, and all that’s left to do now is prove it on the field. That process is already underway, and takes another step forward in two weeks at the Commanders’ rookie minicamp.
Stick with CommanderGameday for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 NFL Draft.
