{"id":753449,"date":"2026-02-15T07:58:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T07:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/753449\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T07:58:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T07:58:31","slug":"washington-commanders-surprisingly-pick-cornerback-in-new-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/753449\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders surprisingly pick cornerback in new mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 13, 2026, 6:16 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Commanders\u00a0gave 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.\u00a0<\/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

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

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 13, 2026, 6:16 a.m. ET Will the Washington Commanders select a cornerback in the first round of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[95878,427,7,6,95993,95994,97116,95882,95913,96255,96201,95896,95888,96683,95895,95906,96099,95883,96006,95881,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-753449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-commanders","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sstssportsnflcommanders","13":"tag-sstsncommanders","14":"tag-tag2026-nfl-draft","15":"tag-tagamerican-football","16":"tag-tagcincinnati-bengals","17":"tag-tagfox-sports","18":"tag-tagmike-sainristil","19":"tag-tagnational-sports","20":"tag-tagnfl","21":"tag-tagnfl-draft","22":"tag-tagnfl-hub","23":"tag-tagoverall-positive","24":"tag-tagsec-conference-football","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-tagwashington-commanders","27":"tag-typestory","28":"tag-washington","29":"tag-washington-commanders","30":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116073588762241033","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753449","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=753449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}