Washington Football Team 7-round mock draft: Rolling with Taylor Heinicke
By Ian Cummings
Round 4, Pick 106 – TCU S Ar’Darius Washington
I originally had the 92nd pick here, acquired via the earlier trade with the Dolphins. But I didn’t like how the board fell late in the third round, so I decided to jump back again and acquire an extra pick.
The Jaguars were willing to make their way up into Round 3, and they gave an early fourth-round pick and an extra fifth-round pick to get it done. It was a minor transaction, but it ended up helping fill out this class.
And, to make things even better, one of my targets at 92 was still there at 106.
Ar’Darius Washington is a supremely underrated NFL Draft prospect. There is a reason for that. His size is a legitimate concern. He’s only 5-foot-8, and in college, he measured in under 180 pounds. He may weigh in at a higher value at his pro day, but his frame naturally limits some of his playmaking capacity.
Having said that, Washington’s game is quietly exciting. The TCU safety is extremely versatile, possessing the ability to play both in two-high alignments and in the slot as a man coverage defender. He has excellent functional athleticism, with the explosiveness, fluidity, and range to make plays on the back end. Couple that with his quick processing ability, instincts, and competitive toughness, and you have a player who plays much bigger than he looks.
Washington has been compared to both Tyrann Mathieu and Quandre Diggs so far throughout the process. While comps in a vacuum can brush over valuable context, they do get the point across in this case. His size may naturally bump him down, but Washington has all the makings of a future impact starter with the versatility that Ron Rivera craves in the secondary.