Commanders 7-round 2024 NFL mock draft: Ulterior motive edition

I only do two mock drafts per year. To be more precise, I publish two mock drafts per year. I do hundreds of them, both for fun and to gauge where players are rising and falling on draft boards. If you do enough of them, you develop a sense of how long you can wait for certain targets.

Of course, one unexpected curveball selection or trade can throw all of your plans into the garbage and you must adjust on the fly. But for the most part, consensuses are building around where targets are likely to go.

I do my first mock at the end of the previous season to establish a baseline. I wait until shortly before the actual draft - after pro days and interviews galore - to do my final draft. Some mock drafts attempt to predict what a given team will do. Others simply act per what the writer thinks would be best. For the record, I do the latter. This is what I would do if I were Adam Peters.

I followed three principles in this mock. First and foremost, though I do have Caleb Williams rated first among quarterbacks, I do not see enough separation between the next four prospects to rule out trading down. For the record, I think it is almost guaranteed that Peters holds onto the second pick. I would do that too if the right trade offer didn’t materialize.

Second principle: I think there is one - and only one - can’t-miss prospect in this draft.

Final principle: The Washington Commanders are in desperate need of more physical players. Given Peters' pedigree coming out of San Francisco, I think he was always going to be looking for elite physical talent, but it is even more important for this team than for most.

Due to poor selections in recent years, this roster simply is not big enough or strong enough to compete at the highest levels. That has to change. I used Pro Football Network’s tool for this exercise. I accepted two trade offers, and ended up with 10 total selections, along with one pick in the 2025 draft. Here are my picks.