What Pass-Rusher Do Commanders Draft in 'Win-Now Mock'?
With Josh Harris' group on the cusp of taking over ownership of the Washington Commanders franchise, coach Ron Rivera may need his team to reach the postseason in 2023 to convince his new bosses to retain him.
A key piece for Rivera will be pass rusher Chase Young, who essentially had a lost 2022 season as he recovered from a torn right ACL. Washington didn't exercise the former Defensive Rookie of the Year's fifth-year option this offseason, perhaps trying to light a fire under a player that once seemed destined to become the face of the franchise.
But while the Commanders feel as though they need to be in win-now mode in 2023, a new mock draft took that concept a little too literally.
NFL Media put together their annual "win-now" mock draft, which makes every team a blank slate, re-enters every active player into said draft and determines the first-round order from worst to first in terms of record last season.
So in this simulation, the Commanders had the No. 17 overall pick. And Rivera and company used it on a pass rusher with a longer track record of production than Young -- Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
"It would be hard for the Commanders to pass on Garrett, who has notched five consecutive seasons of double-digit sack totals coming into 2023," NFL Media wrote.
While there were still some productive quarterbacks on the board when it came time for the Commanders to make a selection -- such as Tua Tagovailoa, Kirk Cousins and Geno Smith -- arguably the top 11 players at the position had been taken already.
And so there was a legitimate case for Washington taking a player that could become the anchor for either their offensive or defensive line.
If you ignore the ugly real-life breakup left tackle Trent Williams had with the Washington franchise, the 34-year-old would be an intriguing option in an exercise based on just winning in 2023.
Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt was limited to 10 games in 2022, but was the Defensive Player of the Year in the prior season and is a three-time All-Pro. With 77.5 sacks in parts of six seasons, Watt is on a trajectory that will put him in Hall of Fame contention at the conclusion of his career. And Washington ultimately passed on taking the 28-year-old.
But it's hard to argue with the selection of Garrett, who has 74.5 sacks to show for six seasons himself, along with 263 combined tackles, 142 quarterback hits, 77 tackles for a loss and 13 forced fumbles.
Garrett was the third defensive player off the board, with Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers and Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys going in the two picks prior to him. A real-life Commanders player wasn't selected until receiver Terry McLaurin went to the Denver Broncos with the 69th overall pick.
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