3-Round Commanders Mock Draft: Speed and Violence in the Early Rounds

Plenty of mock drafts will drop about who the Washington Commanders should take after the NFL Scouting Combine, but why wait?

With two days of drills complete, plenty of players the Commanders could target in April have already completed their workouts.

While the scope will be a bit limited to just those position groups who have worked out already, the edge, defensive line, linebacker, safety, cornerback, and tight ends all present numerous attractive options for Washington to consider. So let’s dive in.

Because of previous trades, a standard three-round mock draft doesn't work for this team. Making just three selections actually takes us all the way through the fifth round, and it could look a little something like this.

Texas Tech's David Bailey looks to the sideline during the Big 12 Conference championship football game, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Speed and violence at No. 7

Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles’ combine performance catapulted him all the way to No. 2 to the New York Jets, who decided if they couldn’t get the quarterback for their offense, they’d get one on defense.

At No. 7, that left us with numerous attractive options, a good sign for general manager Adam Peters, and here we opted to pair speed with violence by taking the fastest edge defender in the class, David Bailey, out of Texas Tech.

Bailey clocked a 4.5 40-yard dash time, and while you never want to see guys in that position running that far, there’s no doubt how impressive that is.

His 35-inch vertical and short-area twitch put on display, while his run defense questions may hang over his stock a bit, his elite athletic ability is impossible to deny.

Adding SEC pedigree to the secondary

Fast forward to the third round and pick No. 71, and plenty of talent has come off the board, but there is still enough remaining that cornerback Daylen Everette out of Georgia catches our eyes as a defensive back who could help new Commanders defensive coordinator Daronte Jones usher in his style of defense this season.

Everette was one of the few cornerbacks to run a sub-4.4 40 at the combine, and he flashed good hands in the drills on the field. Scouts are going to go running back to his tape to find out where the traits marry the film, but there’s no doubt the tools to carve out a solid NFL cornerback are there.

Feb 27, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon (TE19) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A massive developmental target

With our third pick, coming in the fifth round, tight end Eli Raridon looks like a solid addition to the room who will help push John Bates and Ben Sinnott to reach new heights while providing developmental upside in case the duo fails to lock down the position hierarchy in 2026.

His 4.62 40 time isn’t the record-setting sprint Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq laid down, but it’s respectable, especially for a guy who is six-foot-seven-inches tall and weighs 252 pounds. He looked quicker than expected in the on-field portion as well, adding weight to his status as a developmental project with upside.

For fun, we took this mock a step further, while still limited to only players who have already worked out entering Saturday’s slate of drills, and added two fast and versatile defensive backs in Oklahoma’s Robert Spears-Jennings and Ohio State’s Lorenzo Styles Jr.

Styles Jr. had the fastest 40 time (4.27) of any safety at the combine since 2003, and coming from a receiver’s background, he fits the profile of a player Peters would covet in the draft. He also flashes the versatility to not just play safety, but become a player Jones might be able to use in multiple spots.

Spears-Jennings wasn’t as fast as Styles, but 4.32 is never going to be called slow. He’s more of a true safety who has also shown on tape the ability to hit. Speed and violence becoming priorities in Washington, it’s hard to imagine this prospect wouldn’t be in strong consideration were he to be available on Day 3.

It’s a very defensive-heavy group, but with only one offensive position group having worked out so far, that was expected.

The receivers, running backs, and offensive linemen will have something to contribute to the equation, of course, and we’ll be back once they do to see how that changes things as we look ahead to what Washington might do in the 2026 NFL Draft.