Grading the Washington Commanders’ 2022 NFL Draft

The Washington Commanders selected eight players in the 2022 draft. On Thursday afternoon, they started out with six draft picks and through two trades ended up with two extra picks. Ron Rivera seems to be very pleased with how the draft went and expects multiple players in this class to make a day one impact.

We will dive deeper into this, as I go through the grades but Washington’s process was strikingly different than their 2021 approach. Instead of drafting high-potential players that may not be ready to contribute right away, they went for players ready to contribute immediately with lower ceilings.

Last year, they were operating as a team that was “a year or two away.” This year, they are operating as a team with confidence in its roster. Therefore, the process changed. Whether or not they are right, will be decided later.

Anyways, let’s dive into my grades for the Commanders 2022 NFL Draft.

The Trade Down From 11 

The evaluation on paper, is the Washington Commanders won this trade. After Drake London and Garrett Wilson were taken just before their selections, Washington’s remaining round one WRs on their board (Olave, Williams, and Dotson) were closely bunched together. Treylon Burks, according to Rivera and Mayhew, was a tier below those guys. Washington was able to trade down, still snag Dotson, and accumulate draft ammo in the middle of the draft, while the Saints acquired a receiver with a similar profile to Dotson. Maybe Olave or Williams turn into bonafide WR1’s, but as of now, this is a slam dunk trade for the Commanders.

Grade: A-