The Washington Commanders have a lot of needs on their roster right now, and wide receiver is not the biggest of them. Yet, multiple times this season, we’ve seen mock drafts spend the team’s No. 7 overall pick on a receiver instead of a position of greater need, like edge rusher.
The case for Carnell Tate
“No one needs to remind Washington head coach Dan Quinn about the importance of protecting quarterback Jayden Daniels, and the best way of doing that with this pick might be to bolster a receiving corps that, frankly, didn’t live up to expectations,” Fox Sports’ Rob Rang writes in his latest mock draft sending Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate to the Commanders. “Big and smooth, Tate would add a dynamic downfield presence to add some vitality to a group of pass-catchers overly reliant on 30-year-old Terry McLaurin as Deebo Samuel and Zach Ertz head to free agency.”
Admittedly, if Samuel hits free agency and with Ertz not likely to return, receiver becomes a bigger need. Currently, if both of those veterans are not on the 2026 roster, Terry McLaurin, Luke McCaffrey, Jaylin Lane, and tight ends John Bates and Ben Sinnott are the primary playmakers in Washington for Daniels to throw to.
Texas Tech’s David Bailey takes the field before a non-conference football game, Saturday, August 30, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Ignoring the edge rushers
And by the time we get to April, there will be several roster moves to fill holes and give general manager Adam Peters as much wiggle room as possible. However, as the roster stands today, it’d be hard to imagine Peters passing on either Reuben Bain Jr. (Miami (FL)) or David Bailey (Texas Tech) to join Dorance Armstrong, who is returning to the Commanders’ edge group coming off a knee injury, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste returning from a season-ending injury of his own.
Instead, Rang sends Bain to the New Orleans Saints at pick No. 8, and Bailey to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 10.
Other names to watch
A pair of Ohio State linebackers came off the board in the top five of this mock, with Arvell Reese off the board at No. 2 to the New York Jets and Sonny Styles taken by the Tennessee Titans at No. 4.
That leaves Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs as the main non-edge rushing prospect available on most Washington draft boards, who ends up in Kansas City at No. 9.
Notre Dame running back Jeremyiah Love is also a hot name around Commanders fan mocks, and in this one, he comes off the board at No. 3 to the Arizona Cardinals.
Mansoor Delane, the LSU cornerback, has become a growing name attached to Washington in the first round, but in this iteration, he lands with the Dallas Cowboys at No. 12; an outcome that would make plenty of burgundy and gold clad fans cringe.
Fortunately, like all mock drafts this early in the offseason, this is one look at what could be, and Tate is certainly a top talent in the class, showing that regardless of the direction Peters goes in April, there’s a high probability a solid player is going to arrive in Washington on Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
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