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When looking at the Washington Commanders draft, they didn’t reel in a lot of high praise across the league. And they weren’t able to trade back. Putting those two things together, here are the Commanders' three biggest mistakes in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Here’s the list of the Commanders’ draft picks:
- Round 1, No. 29 overall: Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon
- Round 2: No. 61 overall: Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss
- Round 4, No. 128: Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech
- Round 6, No. 205: Kain Medrano, LB, UCLA
- Round 7, No. 245 overall: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Arizona
That’s what they got. Now let’s take a look at where they missed out.
Mistake No. 1: Not drafting an edge rusher
Probably more than anything in this draft, the Commanders needed to add help at edge rusher. And general manager Adam Peters whiffed at the position throughout the draft.
Of course, picking an edge rusher in the sixth or seventh rounds probably wouldn’t have moved the needle much for the 2025 season. But the Commanders declined to get one earlier. That seems to be a mistake that could haunt them in the bigger games of the upcoming season.
Washington should be good enough to win games, but it’s the 50-50 contests where the lack of a good pass rush could end their Super Bowl dreams.
And the explanation for the choices seems a little weak, according to commanderswire.com.
“Well, I feel like we like what we have in that room, I think we're always looking to add if we can, if the right opportunity presents itself, I don't think we would've not added it,” Draft assistant Lance Newmark said.
OK, first, what in the world is the gobbledegook? “Don’t think we would’ve not added it?” Anyway, moving forward,
“There was never a situation we're not going to add that. Every time we got to where we were picking these players made the most sense for us. It wasn't, we weren't going to address edge at any point. There was never any conversations of that mindset. It was these players made the most sense for us. And like I said, we like that room and we like what we have there.”
Regardless of whether any of that means anything, the Commanders could have drafted Donovan Ezeiruaku in the first round. Now they get to watch him play in Dallas. Great.
Then in the second round, the Commanders could have traded up when Mike Green remained on the board. Perhaps they hoped Green would fall to them, or maybe they tried to trade and got rebuffed. Green went at No. 59, and the Commanders took cornerback Trey Amos at No. 61.
Green had top-15 overall talent, according to several NFL observers and draft “experts.” Amos did not. Yes, the Commanders needed Amos, but they needed Green, or someone like him, more. Green landed with the Ravens, who will likely laugh all the way to the playoffs.
Now the Commanders will have to scour the free-agent market. They could start with undrafted rookie free agents like Tyler Batty of BYU or Jared Ivey of Ole Miss. Jah Joyner of Minnesota is also a potential target.
The Commanders may also dip into the veteran pool for someone like Von Miller, Matt Judon, Preston Smith, or Za’Darius Smith. In a pipe dream scenario, they could still trade for the Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson.
Mistake No. 2: Commanders didn’t address RB position
Yes, they got a potential home-run threat in Croskey-Merritt. But how many seventh-rounders become NFL starting running backs? There aren’t many Jamal Anderson stories out there.
Two good fits for the Commanders would have been Bhayshul Tuten (Jaguars) and Cam Skattebo (New York Giants). The Commanders could have traded up for one of those guys, perhaps. And now they have to deal with Skattebo in their division. Great.
Six running backs flew off the board before the Commanders picked in Round 4. So it’s little surprise they went with a wide receiver at that point.
The Commanders will head into 2025 with Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler leading the backfield. Unless they sign Donovan Edwards (Michigan) or Montrell Johnson Jr. (Florida) as an undrafted free agent.
Mistake No. 3: Did they make the right call at OT?
Without dissing the pick of Conerly, the Commanders passed on Josh Simmons of Ohio State. And the Kansas City Chiefs were all too happy to pounce, according to espn.com.
“In conversations with a Chiefs source today, they said Simmons was a dream target but assumed he would be long gone when they came on the clock,” Matt Miller wrote. “Simmons wasn't gone, and now Kansas City has a legitimate franchise left tackle prospect who they normally wouldn't be able to add in the draft with yearly Super Bowl visits.
“Simmons could have been the top tackle in the class had he not suffered a torn patella tendon in mid-October. The expectation is that he'll be cleared in August, and he'll factor into the team's long-term tackle plans.”
Think about this for a minute. Simmons could have been the top tackle if not for the injury that caused him to miss most of the 2024 college season. That means better than Will Campbell or Armand Membou, who went in the top seven picks. Did the Commanders make a mistake here? Sure sounds like it’s possible.
