The Washington Commanders have Jayden Daniels on his rookie contract, so it makes sense for the franchise to do all they can to give him the best chance at taking this team back to the playoffs.

Having a stout defense helps, and the Commanders have been hard at work in free agency to bolster the defense, but that matters little if Daniels doesn’t have weapons to put up points.

With only Terry McLaurin as the go-to option, if a defense doubles him, who can help push the ball down the field? No one.

Hence why in Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft for ESPN, at No. 7, he has the Commanders taking receiver Carnell Tate.

“Paired with another Ohio State product in Terry McLaurin, Tate would bring clean route running, reliability and some big-play ability,” Kiper Jr. wrote. “He averaged 17.2 yards per catch last season en route to 875 yards and nine trips to the end zone. Considering the Commanders would be relying on Luke McCaffrey, Treylon Burks and Dyami Brown behind McLaurin, this makes sense.”

More: Chiefs draft theme beginning to emerge for Patrick Mahomes

Daniels under big 2026 pressure

After a superb rookie season, Daniels came back to the pack in 2025, but that was mostly due to injuries that interrupted his year.

Now, Daniels is entering Year 3, so he will have the chance to show the NFL world what he has once again, but he’ll do it without Zach Ertz, his ultimate security blanket, who suffered an ACL injury last season.

That is why getting Daniels another weapon, like Tate, is a good move for the Commanders and allows McLaurin to do his thing while letting Tate work on his game without the threat of being the focal point of the offense.

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