Commanders Mock Draft: Building a potent offense

The Washington Commanders head into the NFL Draft with a holes on both sides of the football, but as an offensive unit, they haven’t had much success over the last few seasons.

From shaky quarterback play to a plethora of skill position players failing to live up to their contracts or draft position, the Commanders must invest in their offense come late April.

Luckily for them, the crop of offensive talent at both wide receiver and running back is stacked within the first three rounds, and in the case of some prospects, you can even find solid talent in rounds four and five.

This year, the Commanders are missing their third and fifth-round picks, but that’s not an excuse to put their offense on the backburner heading into the draft. They need playmakers, they need talent that can provide a spark with the ball in their hands, and quite frankly, they kist need difference makers that offer a different skillset than what’s already present on the roster.

Commanders Mock Draft: Building a potent offense

With that in mind, let’s take a look at their first selection in the 2022 NFL Draft: the third-best wide receiver on my board and an absolute stud at 6-foot-5 out of Southern California.

There’s arguably not a wide receiver with the best set of raw tools in this class than USC’s Drake London.

The 6-foot-5 phenom put together a 2021 season for the ages, dominating college football prior to injury taking his final few games away from him. With that putting a halt on his production, he still managed to create enough buzz to make him a home-run selection at pick No. 11 for the Washington Commanders.

London’s 2021 season showed off his ability to create for himself at all three levels of the passing game, with a real ability to win not only with his route-running ability but also his ability to use his size to his advantage. London posted contested catch rate numbers and yards per route run numbers that placed him in the upper 90th-percentile among all qualified receivers.

In addition, the former Trojan posted top 21 in both screen yards and screen catches, while posting a grade against man coverage of 87.4, which placed him yet again among the elite of his position in 2021.

Versatility, size, violence, London displays everything you want at wide receiver. He may not be the speed threat or the constant creator of separation that very few at his size are, but he has more than enough IQ as a route-runner and skills as he plays the ball in the air to make up for any deficiency in his game.

In short, London wins at every level of the passing game and can flat out do it all at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds.