Commanders best-ever picks in franchise history at 2023 draft spots

What are the best picks made by the Washington Commanders in franchise history from their current spots during the 2023 NFL Draft?

Barring trades, the Washington Commanders will have eight picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. You can read lots of draft projections and mock drafts. The internet is full of them. Our own Ken Johannesen does the best team-specific mocks that I know of.

When it comes to mock drafts, I’m a dilettante. So I don’t do mocks. But I do go pretty far back with this team, so I do what a lot of old guys do. I talk about the old days.

As I said, the Commanders have eight picks – numbers 16, 47, 97, 118, 150, 193, 215, and 233. Here’s what I do: I tell you who the best player – regardless of the mascot name at the time – has ever drafted at each of those positions.

I probably should have given you a draft geek alert at the beginning. But here are the picks.

Pick No. 233

Billy Brewer – Former Commanders S

• No. 233 overall – 1959

As you might guess, the pickings are rather slim here. Washington hasn’t had very many No. 233 picks in its history, and none of the players lasted more than a season or two.

Billy Brewer did start six games on one of the worst teams in franchise history, and then he transitioned into a coaching career. He would go on to be a decent head coach at Ole Miss for a decade.

That’s the highest football-related achievement anybody drafted by Washington in this slot has managed.