The Washington Commanders caused a stir with their seventh-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. To the surprise of almost everyone, general manager Adam Peters went with quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who was expected to go undrafted despite showing some flashes throughout his time in college.
This will be no threat to Jayden Daniels, of course.
He's the franchise player in Washington, and that hasn't changed. The Commanders are merely covering their bases in the event they suffer more injury problems at the position. And if everything goes well, Kaliakmanis will be a cheap backup or potential trade bait.
Mel Kiper Jr. thought Commanders would have been better off with Garrett Nussmeier
However, the choice left ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. asking the same question some Commanders fans also had when the selection was made.
Kiper thought the decision to draft Kaliakmanis came way out of left field. He also wondered if the Commanders were going to go down this route, why didn't Garrett Nussmeier enter the equation?
"The Athan Kaliakmanis pick was a little off the wall. He was QB19 on my board. If Washington wanted a backup quarterback, Garrett Nussmeier was still there."
Nussmeier's slide was alarming. The Kansas City Chiefs eventually ended it with the No. 249 overall selection, giving him the chance to learn from Patrick Mahomes. But for someone who was in contention for the No. 1 overall selection before the 2025 campaign, it represents a dramatic fall from grace.
His production took a major dip at LSU last season. Nussmeier was dealing with injury problems, and head coach Brian Kelly had no trouble throwing him under the bus in a veiled attempt to save himself. That didn't work, but the criticism clearly had an adverse effect on the signal-caller's aspirations at the next level.
While Nussmeier had a bad year, he is better than a seventh-rounder. The Commanders probably did their homework and decided that Kaliakmanis was a better option. There is also far less hype attached, so perhaps adding one of Daniels' former college teammates to the room would have been an unnecessary distraction.
This is probably making more headlines than it should. It's a Day 3 quarterback who'll likely be competing more with Sam Hartman than Daniels and Marcus Mariota. It was a surprising decision, but it's not without merit in the right context.
As for Nussmeier? He's also starting from the bottom up.
The Chiefs are giving him a shot, but what comes next is unclear. He's got the talent; it's just a case of developing gradually and taking any opportunities that arise. Everything after that is out of his hands.
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