The exhaustive process of preparing for the NFL Draft is almost complete for the Washington Commanders.
Adam Peters and his staff have spent the past few months watching countless hours of film and discussing prospects with coaches. They have met with dozens of players and scouted them at all-star games and individual pro days.
Peters has no doubt put out feelers to his fellow general managers to gauge who might want to trade up or back once the selections commence. It's a thorough, meticulous process.
The Commanders now have their big board and a general strategy for what to do with the five picks entering the event. Peters will tinker with it right up until the final selection is made, but we can safely assume that he will be looking to accomplish several fundamental tasks.
At moments like these, I always think of the old Seinfeld episode where Yankees superfan George Costanza hits on his brilliant roster-building strategy. “I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn’t have to give up that much.” That’s his brainstorm from the 1996 The Caddy episode.
Every year, I seem to talk myself into being able to draft Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, and Ashton Jeanty while only trading away the rights to Ricky Stromberg.
That never works out. I have learned to try and be more realistic.
The Commanders have five draft picks as of now. If that doesn’t change, that’s just five new players. Two of those picks come after 200 other prospects have been selected. Peters is not coming out of this draft with Hunter, Carter, or Jeanty. He’s not even getting their kid brothers.
But there are some realistic goals he will have. Here are the top four objectives that Peters must achieve in the 2025 draft.
Critical objectives the Commanders must achieve during the 2025 NFL Draft
Continue to restock the offensive line
One of the many failures of the Commanders’ previous regime was not building a quality offensive line through the draft. Sam Cosmi was the only draft pick — or undrafted free agent for that matter — who developed into a reliable starter. This is especially egregious because the offensive line requires the most players and requires the most cohesion of any position group.
Peters began addressing this last year with the selection of Brandon Coleman. Though his eventual position is still undetermined, it appears that he will be a starter for years to come.
With most of the other projected starters hovering around 30 years old, Peters must continue to identify young players to develop. Fortunately, quality interior linemen can be found in the later rounds, so perhaps the Commanders have a Day 3 prospect in mind.
Find another dynamic wide receiver
Washington chose Luke McCaffrey on Day 2 last year. Despite his mediocre rookie campaign, they still have high hopes for the wide receiver. Even so, the NFL is a passing league, and modern offenses need as many weapons as possible.
Jayden Daniels will have a good group in 2025, led by Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel Sr., but the recently acquired pass-catcher is only signed for one more year.
The nature of the salary cap makes it most effective for a team to have one veteran star and at least one rising star on a rookie contract. Salaries for elite wide receivers have gotten so high that paying two veterans puts a serious strain on the rest of the roster. Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Commanders do not need an elite wideout for the coming season. They would still be wise to draft another in a year that features a lot of depth, even if it doesn’t boast much star power at the top.
Got a rangy, physical perimeter cornerback
Mike Sainristil can play outside, but he shouldn't. While he can be effective on the perimeter, he can be a star playing inside, making disruptive plays all over the field.
Right now, the Commanders have one true quality perimeter cornerback in Marshon Lattimore. Benjamin St-Juste and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. were supposed to man that position, but we all saw what happened to them.
This should be a priority for Peters. There are a lot of intriguing prospects with the length and speed to match up with receivers like CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown. Look for Washington to spend an early pick on another cornerback.
Acquire a disruptive pass-rusher
This is priority No. 1. It doesn’t mean Peters will choose an edge rusher in the first round. He will stick to his board. But somehow, the Commanders need to come out of this draft with more pass-rushing talent.
Joe Whitt Jr. has tended to employ a hybrid 4-3 front, with most of the pass pressure coming from rangy defensive ends or outside linebackers. Last year, Dante Fowler Jr. and Dorance Armstrong Jr. were two of the club’s best pass rushers.
It will be interesting to see if Peters looks at bigger defensive ends in this year’s draft. A player like Braden Fiske lined up inside in college but moved to a more traditional end spot in the NFL. He rewarded the Los Angeles Rams with 8.5 sacks as a rookie.
Alternatively, if dynamic safety Nick Emmanwori falls to the No. 29 pick, Peters could snap him up and let Whitt design all manner of blitz packages. Whether he goes big or small, the Commanders must find players who can generate pressure.
There are plenty of other things that Peters might like to accomplish in this year’s draft — a new running back, a developmental quarterback to compete with Sam Hartman, and even an elite kicker like Miami’s Andres Borregalas are all possibilities. But with just five picks, perhaps the one other thing he would like to do is begin building his stockpile for the future.
If Peters has the chance to do it, I would not be at all surprised to see the Commanders trade back and pick up a few extra picks either this year or in 2026.