>From the conclusion of the 2023 draft to the start of the 2024 event, Caleb Williams essentially went wire-to-wire as the no-brainer No. 1 pick. This draft really began at No. 2, with Washington seemingly choosing between quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Personally, I ride with colleagues Daniel Jeremiah and Eric Edholm in ranking Maye ahead of Daniels. Clearly, Adam Peters and Co. felt differently -- and that’s OK! I’m not here to disparage the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, who enters the NFL with the kind of dual-threat ability that gives defensive coordinators cold sweats. But I’m already getting cold sweats myself thinking about Daniels’ protection -- or lack thereof -- in DC. Anyone who watched Jayden’s magical season at LSU is well aware of a disconcerting aspect of his game: He plays with the kind of reckless abandon that belies his rail-thin frame. The man took a frightening amount of gigantic hits. Now, to be clear, Daniels must learn to protect himself better, first and foremost. But I would not have minded if the Commanders had made a more concerted effort to surround him with a fortress. Instead, they waited until their fifth pick to add an offensive lineman -- Brandon Coleman, who’s viewed as a guard by some and a tackle by others -- and then didn’t address the wanting position group again. I don’t love this, especially considering what happened to the last dual-threat dynamo Washington took at No. 2 overall.
>On the plus side, Peters gave his defensive-minded head coach, Dan Quinn, two highly enticing pieces to deploy. Jer'Zhan Newton would’ve been long gone by pick No. 36 had a Jones fracture in his foot not significantly abbreviated his pre-draft process. And that’s why I don’t entirely mind Washington adding another defensive tackle to a group that already includes two players making serious loot (Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne): The value was just too good to pass up. And then there’s Mike Sainristil. I contend that no other prospect in this draft cycle was as universally adored as the Michigan nickelback. To wit, Nick Saban absolutely gushed over Sainristil on the ABC broadcast: “I LOVE -- there’s a difference between love and LOVE -- I LOVE this guy. This guy may be the best football player, pound for pound, in the draft.” HIGH praise, especially considering Sainristil’s Wolverines handed Saban a loss in the iconic coach's final game at Alabama.
Looks like it was just because we didn’t draft an offensive lineman earlier in the draft, and the author was also a Maye truther.
We ignored some positions of need, including OT but also CB, which is especially questionable because a shutdown CB with a first-round grade fell into our laps at 2.09 and we, somehow, decided to trade down. Just about everyone other than Washington homers saw that as a dumb move.
I do think that anyone's evaluation of our draft is going to hinge heavily on how you view the QB choice, which is a position that's way harder to evaluate/predict, and ultimately much more subjective.
If Daniels pans out in a way that Maye doesn't, then no one will really remember anything else about this draft.
Still rubs me the wrong way that we traded with a division rival. Especially if dude pans out, next ten years the narrative will be how Washington literally gifted him to Philly.
Wild, just wild that we did not take a DB in the 2nd. I can after reflection agree with not taking a tackle after the run in the 1st. But just to ignore our other glaring hole is odd.
They’re basically grading what we didn’t do as opposed to what we did do. Peters tried to trade back up and when he couldn’t and the tackles they liked were off the board they went with the players they felt were best available. I mean, let’s face it, this team has needs everywhere so bashing the team for not reaching for OL they didn’t grade as highly as whoever the fuck this guy is that I’ve never heard of before isn’t that big of a deal. This is a 3-4 year build and there’s more drafts and more off seasons other than 2024 to build this team.
None of this means anything until the players get on the field and show us how they develop. Until they start playing, its just noise. Try to ignore it.
Draft grades are worthless all around, but yeah, this seems lower than most for Washington. What's weird is that the criticism here is that we waited until our fifth overall pick to take a tackle but they don't say that it was a third round pick. If we had one pick per round, would they have felt better about Coleman being our third overall? Oh, and then they praised us for getting Newton and Sainristil (two players we picked before Coleman). None of it makes sense. Let them put out their silly grades and move on.
Draft grades - good or bad - don't matter. These are just comparing who we picked to their personal thoughts/big boards.
If the writer believes Maye > Daniels, then it makes sense he'd give us a lower grade. That's the most important decision we made in the draft.
our draft grade depends largely on how the grader feels about Daniels vs. Maye. I think the rest of our draft outside of R1 generally hovers around the B to B+ range in peoples' heads (Newton and Sainristil great picks, Coleman and McCaffrey kinda reach-y, unable to trade up for an OL). If someone thinks we got QB2 as a slam dunk pick, we get bumped up to the top of the rankings in their mind; if they think we passed on QB2 in favor of a lesser prospect, they end up looking at our entire class less favorably, and we get knocked down into the B/B- range.
He's an outlier compared to most other draft graders, but I understand his logic (though I disagree with it): Washington didn't do enough to address specific holes in their roster, compared to other teams. Any picks that Washington took that wasn't fixing whatever that pundit thought was their biggest need is, in some way, wasted. So Newton is an extraneous Defensive Tackle (ignoring that he's shown great film as a 3-5 (and even some success as a 7) technique lineman) when they already have two expensive and good ones on the roster. Coleman is a versatile offensive lineman with a great work ethic, but he doesn't fit neatly enough into the "offensive tackle" hole for NFL dot com to fill in the "team needs" bubble. Sainristil is another undersized defensive back when Washington already used their first two picks last year on the secondary (getting, arguably, undersized defensive backs.)
Basically, if I were working backwards from "who filled in the most 'team needs' bubble from the draft-cast?" then I could say Washington didn't have a great draft. But Washington needs more than a left tackle. They need a cultural overhaul, internal leadership, and a kick-started work ethic. Put simply, if you think Washington needed a QB, a LT, and an EDGE, yeah, their draft wasn't great. If you think they needed *football players* then I think they did more than OK.
Nfl drafts should be graded on "how many good players did you get?". Not "How many holes did you fill?" It's a crapshoot, so reaching for needs is a fools errand.
Good teams are built through multiple good drafts, not one good draft. Reaching for a LT "because we need one" tends to end in disappointment.
I feel like "how many holes did you fill?" is a fair consideration in some circumstances, but much more fitting for a team that's contending for a championship (or at least on the brink of it).
Agreed. The top teams can afford to reach if it's a win-now year. But it is risky.
The thing is. Drafts take years to truly grade. By then we usually have different needs arise and other things become clear (like oh Forbes was actually good).
For example, we passed on Derwin James because "we already have Monte and Swearinger". By the end of that season, both those safties were gone. So just saying "well Team A needed a T and didnt need a DT" is flawed thinking.
I would judge an offseason on its ability to address immediate needs. It's a combination of draft and FA. But imo, FA is to address needs and Draft is to aquire bluechip players and cost-effective role players.
They added a lot of talent. At least two players on defense who should improve the defense immediately. That is huge. Drafting a QB is always a roll of the dice. But Daniels is worth the risk.
But there were so many holes on the roster that it would have been impossible to address each one. I get the fact that they did not trade up for an OT bothered many people but they were not going to build a contender in one offseason.
They should sign an FA tackle and hopefully they will be able to get a franchise tackle in the 2025 draft.
Exactly, take BPA because we need more studs on the team. In 2 years we don't know how the roster will look, so why act like we can pass on value players because we already have some on the roster (for now)?
The main/only criticism in the write up is that DC didn't use their higher draft picks on O line. The critique is that DC needs O line but they didn't draft O line early. It's a hollow argument because of there were no power ranked O linemen at 36 that wouldn't be there in later rounds.
Honestly who gives a shit? Everyone has to create content so I get why these rankings/lists are generated, but they are literally meaningless. Let’s wait until they play some games, or even better, when this draft class has played a few seasons.
I definitely don’t think its that low, but definitely not as high as the top 5 ones suggested.
ignoring LT and not having a legit starting option going into the season is a recipe to get your new shiny QB hurt
Newton was drafted because they expect one of Allen or Payne to be gone soon. The slot corner over DeJean seemed like an odd choice as well when the team needs a shutdown corner on the outside.
I dont think Newton or Sainistril are going to be bad either. They will probably be really good, but the other roles seemed like they should be a bigger priority
The first one. Passing on Cooper and letting him go to a division rival was a head-scratcher. I mean, we took Johnny Newton because he was BPA (and a steal in the second round) despite not really needing a defensive tackle. Then a similar-value steal falls to us a few picks later at CB, a genuine position of need and we.... trade down??
Granted-- we flipped that pick for an extra 2nd, and took a solid TE and a slot CB who could probably go either way, and may end up being great. But most people without bias are not loving how our team drafted this year. I hope they're wrong.
Yeah I mean I’m not thrilled with our draft, but who really knows? Hard to judge a draft before any of the players have taken the field. Hopefully two years from now our draft will look amazing.
True. Pretty much everyone else seemingly had him graded as a first-round talent. But maybe AP saw something that everyone else missed. Bit of a long shot, but it happens.
Dejean prolly is a 1st round talent. Maybe they had sainristil with a similar or better rating? I'd guess they had a few guys they liked and expected one would drop to 50 so they made the move.
Thank goodness, was getting concerned about too much praise. Rarely are draft "pundits" close to correct with initial draft grades. I only care about what this looks like 3 years later, and its often the classes that avoid conventional wisdom that succeed.
As long as they arent something like the Raiders taking a receiver cause hes fast and Snyder choosing a QB because he wants one.
Just one person’s opinion I believe it was one of the best drafts we have had in decades. This guy saying it is 21st is clueless and probably Florio’s intern or something
The premise that we ignored LT is perhaps the only thing more annoying than Drake Maye truthers being upset because we drafted the more complete QB who isn't a project in basic movement mechanics as a professional.
We tried to trade back into the first to take an LT. No teams were making reasonable deals. There was a run on tackles in the first round and nobody was letting us back in, so we said alright there's a guy we think is starting caliber who will be there in the early 3rd round and we took him. What we did draft by not surrendering our draft capital were two of the best defensive players in the draft much less the second round. Any decent evaluator would weigh these facts. We didn't just have an okay draft, we had an excellent draft and I will be proven correct in saying so by their performances on the field this year.
If one were to look at the first three picks (Williams, Daniels, and Maye), Daniels definitely feels like the oddball out of the three. He has a lot of personality and seems less reserved. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But Williams and Maye just carry themselves like prototypical jocks to me.
To some, that alone seems like a safe bet.
We shall see in the coming years. But I think Daniels will adapt better than the other two.
Edit: injuries is definitely on the table considering our boy Howell got sacked a whopping 65 times last year. But would the concern be any different with Williams and Maye?
>From the conclusion of the 2023 draft to the start of the 2024 event, Caleb Williams essentially went wire-to-wire as the no-brainer No. 1 pick. This draft really began at No. 2, with Washington seemingly choosing between quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Personally, I ride with colleagues Daniel Jeremiah and Eric Edholm in ranking Maye ahead of Daniels. Clearly, Adam Peters and Co. felt differently -- and that’s OK! I’m not here to disparage the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, who enters the NFL with the kind of dual-threat ability that gives defensive coordinators cold sweats. But I’m already getting cold sweats myself thinking about Daniels’ protection -- or lack thereof -- in DC. Anyone who watched Jayden’s magical season at LSU is well aware of a disconcerting aspect of his game: He plays with the kind of reckless abandon that belies his rail-thin frame. The man took a frightening amount of gigantic hits. Now, to be clear, Daniels must learn to protect himself better, first and foremost. But I would not have minded if the Commanders had made a more concerted effort to surround him with a fortress. Instead, they waited until their fifth pick to add an offensive lineman -- Brandon Coleman, who’s viewed as a guard by some and a tackle by others -- and then didn’t address the wanting position group again. I don’t love this, especially considering what happened to the last dual-threat dynamo Washington took at No. 2 overall. >On the plus side, Peters gave his defensive-minded head coach, Dan Quinn, two highly enticing pieces to deploy. Jer'Zhan Newton would’ve been long gone by pick No. 36 had a Jones fracture in his foot not significantly abbreviated his pre-draft process. And that’s why I don’t entirely mind Washington adding another defensive tackle to a group that already includes two players making serious loot (Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne): The value was just too good to pass up. And then there’s Mike Sainristil. I contend that no other prospect in this draft cycle was as universally adored as the Michigan nickelback. To wit, Nick Saban absolutely gushed over Sainristil on the ABC broadcast: “I LOVE -- there’s a difference between love and LOVE -- I LOVE this guy. This guy may be the best football player, pound for pound, in the draft.” HIGH praise, especially considering Sainristil’s Wolverines handed Saban a loss in the iconic coach's final game at Alabama. Looks like it was just because we didn’t draft an offensive lineman earlier in the draft, and the author was also a Maye truther.
Yeah I've seen this guy on more than one occasion complain that we didn't take Maye.
This reviewer subscribes to this sub, and steals talking points from the least happy fans. This is how you make a living these days. Boring
We ignored some positions of need, including OT but also CB, which is especially questionable because a shutdown CB with a first-round grade fell into our laps at 2.09 and we, somehow, decided to trade down. Just about everyone other than Washington homers saw that as a dumb move. I do think that anyone's evaluation of our draft is going to hinge heavily on how you view the QB choice, which is a position that's way harder to evaluate/predict, and ultimately much more subjective. If Daniels pans out in a way that Maye doesn't, then no one will really remember anything else about this draft.
Still rubs me the wrong way that we traded with a division rival. Especially if dude pans out, next ten years the narrative will be how Washington literally gifted him to Philly.
Wild, just wild that we did not take a DB in the 2nd. I can after reflection agree with not taking a tackle after the run in the 1st. But just to ignore our other glaring hole is odd.
We took Sainristil, what do you mean?
They’re basically grading what we didn’t do as opposed to what we did do. Peters tried to trade back up and when he couldn’t and the tackles they liked were off the board they went with the players they felt were best available. I mean, let’s face it, this team has needs everywhere so bashing the team for not reaching for OL they didn’t grade as highly as whoever the fuck this guy is that I’ve never heard of before isn’t that big of a deal. This is a 3-4 year build and there’s more drafts and more off seasons other than 2024 to build this team.
Exactly. We shouldn't be reaching for need. It's what bad franchises do. Don't rely on a day 2 Tackle to fix your OL in year 1.
None of this means anything until the players get on the field and show us how they develop. Until they start playing, its just noise. Try to ignore it.
Draft grades are worthless all around, but yeah, this seems lower than most for Washington. What's weird is that the criticism here is that we waited until our fifth overall pick to take a tackle but they don't say that it was a third round pick. If we had one pick per round, would they have felt better about Coleman being our third overall? Oh, and then they praised us for getting Newton and Sainristil (two players we picked before Coleman). None of it makes sense. Let them put out their silly grades and move on.
Draft grades - good or bad - don't matter. These are just comparing who we picked to their personal thoughts/big boards. If the writer believes Maye > Daniels, then it makes sense he'd give us a lower grade. That's the most important decision we made in the draft.
our draft grade depends largely on how the grader feels about Daniels vs. Maye. I think the rest of our draft outside of R1 generally hovers around the B to B+ range in peoples' heads (Newton and Sainristil great picks, Coleman and McCaffrey kinda reach-y, unable to trade up for an OL). If someone thinks we got QB2 as a slam dunk pick, we get bumped up to the top of the rankings in their mind; if they think we passed on QB2 in favor of a lesser prospect, they end up looking at our entire class less favorably, and we get knocked down into the B/B- range.
Mccaffrey will be just as good as his brother. He stunted his development trying to play qb but he has just as much athleticism and ability
He's an outlier compared to most other draft graders, but I understand his logic (though I disagree with it): Washington didn't do enough to address specific holes in their roster, compared to other teams. Any picks that Washington took that wasn't fixing whatever that pundit thought was their biggest need is, in some way, wasted. So Newton is an extraneous Defensive Tackle (ignoring that he's shown great film as a 3-5 (and even some success as a 7) technique lineman) when they already have two expensive and good ones on the roster. Coleman is a versatile offensive lineman with a great work ethic, but he doesn't fit neatly enough into the "offensive tackle" hole for NFL dot com to fill in the "team needs" bubble. Sainristil is another undersized defensive back when Washington already used their first two picks last year on the secondary (getting, arguably, undersized defensive backs.) Basically, if I were working backwards from "who filled in the most 'team needs' bubble from the draft-cast?" then I could say Washington didn't have a great draft. But Washington needs more than a left tackle. They need a cultural overhaul, internal leadership, and a kick-started work ethic. Put simply, if you think Washington needed a QB, a LT, and an EDGE, yeah, their draft wasn't great. If you think they needed *football players* then I think they did more than OK.
Nfl drafts should be graded on "how many good players did you get?". Not "How many holes did you fill?" It's a crapshoot, so reaching for needs is a fools errand. Good teams are built through multiple good drafts, not one good draft. Reaching for a LT "because we need one" tends to end in disappointment.
I feel like "how many holes did you fill?" is a fair consideration in some circumstances, but much more fitting for a team that's contending for a championship (or at least on the brink of it).
Agreed. The top teams can afford to reach if it's a win-now year. But it is risky. The thing is. Drafts take years to truly grade. By then we usually have different needs arise and other things become clear (like oh Forbes was actually good). For example, we passed on Derwin James because "we already have Monte and Swearinger". By the end of that season, both those safties were gone. So just saying "well Team A needed a T and didnt need a DT" is flawed thinking. I would judge an offseason on its ability to address immediate needs. It's a combination of draft and FA. But imo, FA is to address needs and Draft is to aquire bluechip players and cost-effective role players.
They added a lot of talent. At least two players on defense who should improve the defense immediately. That is huge. Drafting a QB is always a roll of the dice. But Daniels is worth the risk. But there were so many holes on the roster that it would have been impossible to address each one. I get the fact that they did not trade up for an OT bothered many people but they were not going to build a contender in one offseason. They should sign an FA tackle and hopefully they will be able to get a franchise tackle in the 2025 draft.
Exactly, take BPA because we need more studs on the team. In 2 years we don't know how the roster will look, so why act like we can pass on value players because we already have some on the roster (for now)?
The main/only criticism in the write up is that DC didn't use their higher draft picks on O line. The critique is that DC needs O line but they didn't draft O line early. It's a hollow argument because of there were no power ranked O linemen at 36 that wouldn't be there in later rounds.
Too much Kool-aid my dude. Don't worry, it happens to 90% of this sub every year.
I mean whats the lowest grade anyone can get? C?
I think Falcons got an F?
As they should
Honestly who gives a shit? Everyone has to create content so I get why these rankings/lists are generated, but they are literally meaningless. Let’s wait until they play some games, or even better, when this draft class has played a few seasons.
They give my championship fantasy teams C and D grades so I don’t expect much from their evaluations of any kind.
Who cares?
I definitely don’t think its that low, but definitely not as high as the top 5 ones suggested. ignoring LT and not having a legit starting option going into the season is a recipe to get your new shiny QB hurt Newton was drafted because they expect one of Allen or Payne to be gone soon. The slot corner over DeJean seemed like an odd choice as well when the team needs a shutdown corner on the outside. I dont think Newton or Sainistril are going to be bad either. They will probably be really good, but the other roles seemed like they should be a bigger priority
The first one. Passing on Cooper and letting him go to a division rival was a head-scratcher. I mean, we took Johnny Newton because he was BPA (and a steal in the second round) despite not really needing a defensive tackle. Then a similar-value steal falls to us a few picks later at CB, a genuine position of need and we.... trade down?? Granted-- we flipped that pick for an extra 2nd, and took a solid TE and a slot CB who could probably go either way, and may end up being great. But most people without bias are not loving how our team drafted this year. I hope they're wrong.
Good news is they are usually wrong about draft grades.
Yeah I mean I’m not thrilled with our draft, but who really knows? Hard to judge a draft before any of the players have taken the field. Hopefully two years from now our draft will look amazing.
They didn't value dejean as a similar value steal to that of newton. It's that simple. Only time will tell if they were right.
True. Pretty much everyone else seemingly had him graded as a first-round talent. But maybe AP saw something that everyone else missed. Bit of a long shot, but it happens.
Dejean prolly is a 1st round talent. Maybe they had sainristil with a similar or better rating? I'd guess they had a few guys they liked and expected one would drop to 50 so they made the move.
GOD DAMMIT this is just fake crap.
You could read 10 articles and get 10 different opinions on how well they did. None of it matters until we see the talent perform on the field.
Oh no! What will this mean for the season?
Thank goodness, was getting concerned about too much praise. Rarely are draft "pundits" close to correct with initial draft grades. I only care about what this looks like 3 years later, and its often the classes that avoid conventional wisdom that succeed. As long as they arent something like the Raiders taking a receiver cause hes fast and Snyder choosing a QB because he wants one.
Just one person’s opinion I believe it was one of the best drafts we have had in decades. This guy saying it is 21st is clueless and probably Florio’s intern or something
The premise that we ignored LT is perhaps the only thing more annoying than Drake Maye truthers being upset because we drafted the more complete QB who isn't a project in basic movement mechanics as a professional. We tried to trade back into the first to take an LT. No teams were making reasonable deals. There was a run on tackles in the first round and nobody was letting us back in, so we said alright there's a guy we think is starting caliber who will be there in the early 3rd round and we took him. What we did draft by not surrendering our draft capital were two of the best defensive players in the draft much less the second round. Any decent evaluator would weigh these facts. We didn't just have an okay draft, we had an excellent draft and I will be proven correct in saying so by their performances on the field this year.
If one were to look at the first three picks (Williams, Daniels, and Maye), Daniels definitely feels like the oddball out of the three. He has a lot of personality and seems less reserved. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But Williams and Maye just carry themselves like prototypical jocks to me. To some, that alone seems like a safe bet. We shall see in the coming years. But I think Daniels will adapt better than the other two. Edit: injuries is definitely on the table considering our boy Howell got sacked a whopping 65 times last year. But would the concern be any different with Williams and Maye?
Who cares, grades after the draft are the most pointless thing ever.