If you thought the Washington Commanders offseason so far was a roller coaster just wait until the NFL Draft gets going on Thursday night.
Starting with the No. 2 overall pick, which Commanders general manager Adam Peters says is unlikely to be traded, the franchise is going to complete quite a drastic overhaul from the roster head coach Dan Quinn inherited to the one we’ll see on Sunday.
In three days Washington will spend at least nine draft picks by either selecting players, packaging some of them to move up the board, or possibly moving down the order and collecting more picks.
Either way, it all starts with No. 2, and it’s going to be a fun ride.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn (left) and general manager Adam Peters (right).
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
THE PICKS
1st Round: No. 2 (No. 2 Overall)
Peters said earlier this month the Commanders were comfortable at No. 2 and it would take a lot to get him to move out of it.
Still, never underestimate the determination of another NFL franchise that could lead to that team making Peters an offer too good to refuse.
With LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels all the rage in the trend tracking of who would go to Washington there the Las Vegas Raiders have become a popular team thought to try and trade up, as are the Minnesota Vikings who have two 2024 first round picks.
Unlikely is not impossible, and until the name is read, anything can happen – including Peters taking a quarterback not named Daniels.
2nd Round: No. 4 (No. 36 Overall) and No. 8 (No. 40 Overall)
The Commanders have two second round picks thanks to their own (No. 36) and another via the Chicago Bears (No. 40) thanks to the midseason trade of defensive end Montez Sweat.
At least one of these picks is anticipated to be used as trade bait as many expect Peters to try and make a move back into the first round to draft an offensive tackle.
Either way, at least one of these picks should be used to get Washington a player at that critical position.
3rd Round: No. 3 (No. 67 Overall), No. 14 (No. 78 Overall), and No. 36 (No. 100 Overall)
With three picks in the third round a lot of the ‘ammo’ Peters referred to in his pre-draft press conference lives here.
The first one (No. 67) naturally belongs to the Commanders while the second (No. 78) belonged to the Seattle Seahawks before being sent over in the trade for quarterback Sam Howell. The final pick of the third round (No. 100) for Washington is also the last pick of Day 2 and was sent over in exchange for defensive end Chase Young who joined the San Francisco 49ers via trade last year.
5th Round: No. 4 (No. 139 Overall) and No. 17 (No. 152 Overall)
Without any picks in round four it’s possible Day 3 will take some time to get the Commanders on the clock, but when they do they’ve got two picks spread less than 15 selections apart.
The first (No. 139) belongs to Washington outright while the second (No. 152) is another pick from the Seahawks that came over in the trade for Howell.
7th Round: No. 2 (No. 222 Overall)
Thanks to the trade with Seattle the Commanders don’t have a sixth round pick either, currently, and will have to wait a while to make this final selection – pending any trades that shake up the order, of course.
Typically you see teams go for special teams value or you see them target a player with a specialty that’s hard to find in hopes of developing that and everything else further down the road.
Peters, who came to Washington from the 49ers organization this offseason, was involved in selecting San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy in the seventh round in 2022, so you know he’s not taking this pick lightly.
For information on how to watch every pick the Commanders have in the 2024 NFL Draft, go here.
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