Mock Draft Monday: 3 Commanders Mock Drafts

Breaking down 3 different mock draft scenarios for the Commanders

With the NFL Draft just 10 days away, I thought it’d be fun to start putting together some mock drafts for the Commanders. To do this, I tried a few different mock draft simulator machines that are available online. For today’s post, I settled on the Pro Football & Sports Network simulator, mainly because it had a free trade function. I set the machine to four rounds because I wanted to cover at least three picks and the Commanders don’t currently have a third round pick, so I extended it to four rounds. I don’t know many of the prospects available after that, so that’s why I’m not doing a full seven round mock draft. Here are the three scenarios I came up with, let me know your thoughts in the comments section!

Scenario 1 - No trades, best player available

In the first scenario, I opted to decline all trade offers and just sit at the Commanders current picks, taking the best player available. Here’s the result.

First round, pick 29 - Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State.

It might not be the most popular pick and it definitely isn’t the biggest need, but Josh Simmons could be one of the best talents available at pick 29. Most Commanders fans have looked away from the offensive line since the Laremy Tunsil trade, understandably, but Simmons is a very high upside tackle prospect with great size and athletic ability. Had he not suffered a knee injury midway through the season, he might have solidified himself as a top 10 pick. Obviously, the Commanders would have to be comfortable with that injury and the chance he could miss time to start the season, but we saw last year they were comfortable doing that with Johnny Newton to land what they felt was the best available talent.

Simmons would strengthen a strength for the Commanders. The offensive line looks significantly upgraded already with Tunsil taking over at left tackle and Brandon Coleman penciled into the right tackle spot. But with Simmons added to the roster, he can take over the right tackle spot and enabled Coleman to slide inside to left guard. Once everyone is healthy, that would give the Commanders a very talented, big and athletic offensive line. Reading left to right, the line would be Tunsil, Coleman, Biadasz, Cosmi, Simmons with Andrew Wylie and Nick Allegretti as the top back up options.

That’s a really strong mix of youth and experience, which not only would make the Commanders offensive line a strength this year, but future proof it too. Simmons could come in and play right tackle right away, with the potential to possibly move over to the left side and take over for Tunsil long term, similar to what Tristan Wirfs has done down in Tampa Bay. Alternatively, if Simmons gets entrenched at right tackle, the Commanders could leave him there like the Eagles did with Lane Johnson and find another left tackle when Tunsil calls it quits a few years down the line.

The biggest takeaway from last season was that Jayden Daniels is legit. He can be one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL as long as he stays healthy. He proved last year he could elevate his receivers but was limited at times by the pass protection up front. With the addition of Tunsil at left tackle and now Simmons at right tackle, shifting Coleman inside to left guard, the Commanders have now invested a ton into the offensive line, following the model the Chiefs laid out with Patrick Mahomes and what the Eagles have done too.

Second round, pick 61 - Bradyn Swinson, DE, LSU.

Swinson is one of the defensive ends that has gone under the radar due to the depth of this class. He’s not the speedy, bendy type of edge rusher that teams love to bet on in the first round, but what he has is size, length and power. Those three traits always play well at the next level. Dan Quinn and Adam Peters have both said this offseason that power always translates to the NFL game. Speed rushers are great to have and they can often be the ones that become elite rushers, but the reliable, consistent edge defenders in the NFL all have power that can help them sustain blocks on the edge in the run game and drive blockers back in the passing game.

Swinson has a nice variety of moves, showing he can win with hands as well has having the power to transition to a bull rush at any point. With his length and power, he can drive tackles back into the quarterback, squeezing the pocket. He rarely gets run by the quarterback and gets a lot of his sacks in the style that Ryan Kerrigan used to, driving the tackle backwards, forcing the quarterback to step up under pressure, then getting off the block inside to wrap up the quarterback as he steps up. Swinson may never develop into the 15 sack per year guy that everyone would love to have on their defense, but he has the tools to become a reliable, consistent starter with a long career in the NFL ahead of him.

Fourth round, pick 128 - Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Virginia Tech.

I’m taking the upside shot here with Tuten, who I broke down in more detail in a post last Friday. Tuten is an electric playmaker with the speed and explosiveness to score from anywhere on the field. He’s a dynamic runner with more contact balance than expected from a back of his size, but his real damage will be done getting to the edge and working in space. He’s the perfect change of pace back to mix into a running back rotation. The Commanders desperately lack a home run hitter in this offense and Tuten would add that dimension to the offense in abundance.

The downside with him is his fumbles. He has nine fumbles over his last two years in college. He frequently carries the ball low and away from his body in dangerous situations, inviting defenders to punch it out. NFL defenders are far more likely to punch it out on a consistent basis compared to those in college. That makes Tuten somewhat of a boom or bust prospect. If you can fix his ball security problems, he could turn into the next dynamic change of pace back. But without significant work to improve his ball security, Tuten could end up on the bench before he has a chance to show off his speed. Nothing changes a game like a turnover and consistent fumbles cannot be tolerated. But in the fourth round, the upside play here is just too enticing.

Scenario 2 - Trade back with Bears, get lucky