Draft Primer: Everything A Commanders Fan Needs To Know For the Draft

by

The NFL Draft has a rich history dating back to 1936 when the first draft was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. At that time, it was a relatively informal affair with teams taking turns selecting players for nine rounds. Over the years, the draft has evolved and grown significantly in importance into something that attracts millions of viewers each year.

The Draft itself has become the subject of incredible amounts of analysis and speculation for both experts and fans alike. It seems that every NFL fan now weighs in on what players will be selected and where, and how they might impact their team.

Here is some information on this year’s festivities:

2023 Draft Event Information

The 2023 NFL Draft will be held at the 88th annual meeting of National Football League franchises. The event will be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dates: Thursday, April 27th, 2023 – Saturday, April 29th, 2023
Location: Union Station Kansas City
Network(s): ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio

2023 Draft Schedule And Format

  • Round 1: Thursday, April 27 (8 pm ET)
  • Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 28 (7 pm ET)
  • Rounds 4-7: Saturday, April 29 (12 pm ET)
The event runs over three days. Teams get seven minutes to make picks in the second round, five minutes in rounds three through six, and four minutes in round seven. 
If at any time a team lets its time expire without making the choice, they can make the selection one pick later. Obviously they then run the risk of losing the player it was considering to the team that leap-frogged them in that instance.

Determination of Selection Order

The draft consists of seven rounds of teams meticulously selecting players from college programs around the country. The order of selection is determined by the order of finish in the previous season. Each round starts with the team that finished with the worst record and ends with the Super Bowl champions, with the exception of trades that have been made. Teams that finish the previous season with identical records, will have draft position determined by their strength of schedule.
The league also assigns additional compensatory picks that are based on lost free agents. These picks are added at the end of the third through seventh round. Compensatory picks are decided by a top secret formula that considers a player’s salary, playing time and postseason honors.

2023 Draft Selections For The Commanders

  • 1st Round: 16th overall
  • 2nd Round: 47th overall
  • 3rd Round: 97th overall
  • 4th Round: 118th overall
  • 5th Round: 150th overall
  • 6th Round: 193rd overall
  • 6th Round: 215th overall
  • 7th Round: 233rd overall

The Commanders have a total of eight selections in this year’s draft. They do not have their own third round pick in the draft as they traded it in the Carson Wentz deal. They did however, pick up two compensatory picks – one in the third round for the loss of Brandon Scherff, and one in the 6th round for the loss of Tim Settle.

Commanders Draft Needs

The Commanders have several positions of need. The top positions that they will likely try to bolster are:

  • Offensive Line
  • Cornerback
  • Linebacker
  • Tight End

Take a look at the article from earlier this week to see what holes the Commanders most need to fill. The article goes into some of the top prospects at those positions although obviously teams can’t expect to draft somebody on day three that is guaranteed to make any sort of impact.

Washington have made additions along the offensive line, as well as at cornerback and linebacker through free agency, but all three positions could still use help. The Commanders could also try to better their ranks at Safety and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they add a project quarterback somewhere in the selection process.

Trades

In order for a trade to take place, both teams must call the head table where Ken Fiore – vice president of player personnel – and his staff are, monitoring phones. Both teams must send the same trade information to the league, in order to have a trade approved.

When approved, a Player Personnel representative then sends the details to the league’s broadcast partners, as well as to all 32 clubs. A league official will also announce the trade to the media and fans in attendance at the draft venue.

Last year Washington dealt their 11th overall pick to New Orleans,  and in exchange, the Saints gave up the 16th overall pick, as well as picks in the 3rd (98th overall) and 4th (120th overall) rounds. The Commanders selected wide receiver Jahan Dotson with the 16th pick. With the 98th pick, they took running back Brian Robinson Jr. They bundled the 120th pick with their existing 189th pick, to pick up selections at 144 and 149. They used those picks to select select Sam Howell and Cole Turner respectively.

So to add it all up, Washington dealt their 11th and 189th pick, to pick up selections at 16, 98, 144, and 149. With those selections, they grabbed Dotson, Robinson Jr., Howell and Turner – four players could conceivably be WR2, RB1, QB1 and TE2 this season. That’s a fairly good return for moving down 5 spots in the first and giving up a 6th rounder.

Will they try and do something similar this year?

Don’t Miss: 2023 NFL Draft Trade Value Chart

2023 NFL Draft Order

Round 1

  • Pick 1: Carolina Panthers (from Chicago)
  • Pick 2: Houston Texans
  • Pick 3: Arizona Cardinals
  • Pick 4: Indianapolis Colts
  • Pick 5: Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
  • Pick 6: Detroit Lions (from LA Rams)
  • Pick 7: Las Vegas Raiders
  • Pick 8: Atlanta Falcons
  • Pick 9: Chicago Bears (from Carolina)
  • Pick 10: Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)
  • Pick 11: Tennessee Titans
  • Pick 12: Houston Texans (from Cleveland)
  • Pick 13: Green Bay Packers
  • Pick 14: New England Patriots
  • Pick 15: New York Jets
  • Pick 16: Washington Commanders
  • Pick 17: Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Pick 18: Detroit Lions
  • Pick 19: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Pick 20: Seattle Seahawks
  • Pick 21: Los Angeles Chargers
  • Pick 22: Baltimore Ravens
  • Pick 23: Minnesota Vikings
  • Pick 24: Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Pick 25: New York Giants
  • Pick 26: Dallas Cowboys
  • Pick 27: Buffalo Bills
  • Pick 28: Cincinnati Bengals
  • Pick 29: New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco through Miami and Denver)
  • Pick 30: Philadelphia Eagles
  • Pick 31: Kansas City Chiefs

There are only 31 selections in the first round of the 2023 Draft because Miami was penalized their first round pick for violating league policies when they tried to reign in quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton, who were both under contract.

Round 2

32) Pittsburgh Steelers (from Chicago)
33) Houston Texans
34) Arizona Cardinals
35) Indianapolis Colts
36) Los Angeles Rams
37) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
38) Las Vegas Raiders
39) Carolina Panthers
40) New Orleans Saints
41) Tennessee Titans
42) Cleveland Browns
43) New York Jets
44) Atlanta Falcons
45) Green Bay Packers
46) New England Patriots
47) Washington Commanders
48) Detroit Lions
49) Pittsburgh Steelers
50) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
51) Miami Dolphins
52) Seattle Seahawks
53) Chicago Bears (from Baltimore)
54) Los Angeles Chargers
55) Detroit Lions (from Minnesota)
56) Jacksonville Jaguars
57) New York Giants
58) Dallas Cowboys
59) Buffalo Bills
60) Cincinnati Bengals
61) Chicago Bears* (from San Francisco through Carolina)
62) Philadelphia Eagles
63) Kansas City Chiefs

Round 3

64) Chicago Bears
65) Houston Texans
66) Arizona Cardinals
67) Denver Broncos (from Indianapolis)
68) Denver Broncos
69) Los Angeles Rams
70) Las Vegas Raiders
71) New Orleans Saints
72) Tennessee Titans
73) Houston Texans (from Cleveland)
74) New York Jets
75) Atlanta Falcons
76) New England Patriots (from Carolina)
77) Los Angeles Rams* (from New England through Miami)
78) Green Bay Packers
79) Indianapolis Colts (Washington Commanders)
80) Pittsburgh Steelers
81) Detroit Lions
82) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
83) Seattle Seahawks
84) Miami Dolphins
85) Los Angeles Chargers
86) Baltimore Ravens
87) Minnesota Vikings
88) Jacksonville Jaguars
89) New York Giants
90) Dallas Cowboys
91) Buffalo Bills
92) Cincinnati Bengals
93) Carolina Panthers (from San Francisco)
94) Philadelphia Eagles
95) Kansas City Chiefs
96) Arizona Cardinals (Compensatory Selection)
97) Washington Commanders (Compensatory Selection)
98) Cleveland Browns (Special Compensatory Selection)
99) San Francisco 49ers (Special Compensatory Selection)
100) New York Giants from Kansas City Chiefs (Special Compensatory Selection)
101) San Francisco 49ers (Special Compensatory Selection)
102) San Francisco 49ers (Special Compensatory Selection)