The Washington Commanders will be one of the major players in next week's NFL Draft. Washington needs a franchise quarterback and has their pick of a talented crop of players who will be available after the Bears are assumed to pick Caleb Williams first overall. The Commanders' new general manager had an intriguing tactic for bringing in some of the team's top targets in the draft — do it all at once.
MMQB's Albert Breer recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and spoke about the teams' unique strategy.
“They have 22 prospects,” Breer said. “So they went to TopGolf yesterday and you know all had sort of a casual dinner and kind of a mixer. Now among those 22 players most notable are the four quarterbacks, Caleb Williams is not there, we all know where he’s going. But Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, and Michael Penix are there.”
Breer says this idea to bring all of these prospects together comes from Commanders' general manager Adam Peters. He who comes from the 49ers who used this type of scouting to see how the players interact with each other in a group setting.
“It’s you know the ability to see them interact with their peers and you know see who the leader in the group is,” Breer said. “And see how they get along with each other, and see how they handle a stressful situation with one another. I think there’s a benefit there, if you look at San Francisco, they’ve had one of the best locker rooms in the league over the last five years and I think people who’ve been there would tell you that this whole process that they set up out there is part of the puzzle.”
Which quarterback should the Washington Commanders select with the second pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?
In many ways, the 2024 NFL Draft starts with the Washington Commanders pick at second overall. Everyone in the NFL world has known for months that the Chicago Bears are hot on Caleb Williams' trail. This makes the Commanders' pick the first unknown of the draft.
Even with the NFL Draft just one week away, there is no clear consensus on who Washington prefers between Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, and Jayden Daniels.
According to nflmockdraftdatabase.com, an aggregator of mock drafts from around the internet, Jayden Daniels is the most popular player mocked to the Commanders. Drake Maye is also frequently paired with Washington. However, Michigan's J.J. McCarthy rarely appears in the as one of the top three selections in most mock drafts.
It is important to note that the narrative throughout the offseason has been that decision makers within NFL teams seem to be higher on J.J. McCarthy than the media or fans. In fact, J.J. McCarthy was rumored to be the most popular option for the Commanders among NFL executives as recently as the NFL owners meetings in late March.
The quarterback chosen by the Commanders may end up being revealing of where the team views itself in terms of development.
Will the Commanders make a push to contend in the NFC East right away, or will they lay the foundation for future success? We will get the next piece of the puzzle one week from today in Detroit.
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