{"id":749166,"date":"2026-02-13T11:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749166\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:54:16","slug":"commanders-make-surprise-pick-in-this-2026-nfl-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749166\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders make surprise pick in this 2026 NFL mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will the Washington Commanders<\/a> select a cornerback in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft? That’s one of several positions the Commanders<\/a> could use heading into the offseason. However, most mock draft projections have Washington going with an edge rusher (David Bailey or Rueben Bain), linebacker (Sonny Styles), or safety (Caleb Downs).<\/p>\n

In a new mock draft<\/a> for Fox Sports, Joel Klatt sends the draft’s top cornerback to Washington at No. 7, Mansoor Delane of LSU.<\/p>\n

The Commanders gave up the most passing yards in the league last season, so they have to address that side of the ball. Delane’s my top corner in this draft. So, a natural fit here.<\/p>\n

In this scenario, the Commanders pass on Bailey, who goes No. 10 to the Bengals<\/a>. Realistically, there’s a good chance that Bailey doesn’t make it out of the top five, as the Titans are a real threat to select him at No. 4. If Bailey is on the board at No. 7, it’s difficult to see Washington passing on him, consider the dire need for a top pass rusher.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

While landing a top edge rusher is probably the Commanders’ most significant need, they could also use another starting cornerback. Washington is expected to release Marshon Lattimore and Noah Igbinoghene is a free agent. Mike Sainrisil and Trey Amos, back-to-back second-round picks, will be back. Sainristil struggled in 2025 after a standout rookie season. The Commanders must determine whether Sainristil will play inside or outside. Amos was excellent as a rookie before breaking his leg in Week 10.<\/p>\n

Delane spent three seasons at Virginia Tech before transferring to LSU in 2025. He had his best year for the Tigers, earning All-American status. Delane was a true shutdown corner in 2025 and has a good chance of going somewhere inside the top 10.<\/p>\n

Will it be Washington? It seems unlikely, but much of GM Adam Peters’ decision-making could be impacted by what the Commanders do in free agency next month.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders surprisingly pick cornerback in new mock draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will the Washington Commanders select a cornerback in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft? That’s one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[613,427,3334,4155,7,12327,14346,7185,4002,6,9958,2239,527,1170,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-749166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-caleb-downs","9":"tag-commanders","10":"tag-cornerback","11":"tag-david-bailey","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-joel-klatt","14":"tag-mansoor-delane","15":"tag-marshon-lattimore","16":"tag-mock-draft","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-noah-igbinoghene","19":"tag-sonny-styles","20":"tag-titans","21":"tag-trey-amos","22":"tag-washington","23":"tag-washington-commanders","24":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116063192200016183","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}