2024 NFL Mock Draft: Commanders Take Top Tackle?
The Washington Commanders are welcoming their newest draft class this week, but the scouting department's sights will soon shift towards the 2024 NFL Draft.
It's almost impossible to tell how next season will shake out and where each team will end up in the draft order, but Pro Football Focus made an attempt.
With the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, the Commanders selected Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu.
"Fashanu was a projected first-rounder in the 2023 NFL Draft but opted to return to get his master’s degree," PFF writes. "Not only does he excel in the classroom, but he also excels in pass protection. His 84.7 pass-blocking grade was sixth among Power Five tackles, and he didn’t surrender a sack and only allowed one hit on 281 pass-blocking snaps."
There is reason to believe that the Commanders will seek an offensive tackle at the start of next year's draft. The team currently employs Charles Leno Jr. and Cornelius Lucas at the tackle spots, two players in their 30's. Washington has younger options on the roster, like 2021 draftee Sam Cosmi and 2023 rookie Braeden Daniels, but the Commanders can get an instant difference-maker in Fashanu.
Washington hopes that it won't be in position to draft a player as high on the big board as Fashanu, but the 2023 football season - both in college and the pros - will shake things up and likely put everything in disarray.
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