Four players the Commanders could draft in the first round

By Rhys Knott

Washington has been busy in free agency, probably because their first draft pick is the 29th. After Jayden Daniels’ stellar rookie season, understanding if he was the sole driver of their success or if he benefited from being in a successful environment is tricky. But one thing is certain, the Commanders need to protect him at all costs. 

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Laremy Tunsil’s arrival should help, but when Sam Cosmi was injured in the playoffs the offense really suffered. Offensive line depth is one area they have to target in the draft. 

The Commanders also acquired Deebo Samuel via trade and have signed four new faces to replace some of the free agency departures.

Safety Will Harris arrives from New Orleans. Former Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones joins Dan Quinn’s defense to replace Benjamin St-Juste. Javon Kinlaw fills Jonathan Allen’s role and another defensive lineman Eddie Goldman arrives from Atlanta. 

Nine players left in free agency and the Commanders still have 11 free agents unsigned. Five of those are on the defensive side of the ball. 

There aren’t many obvious weaknesses in the roster, but they will be looking to strengthen their defensive front as well as add offensive line depth.

Derrick Harmon. DT, Oregon

He’s a very big man, but more importantly than that he’s a very smart football player. The Michigan native stands 6-foot-5 tall and weighs 313 pounds. He’s quick too, his 4.95 second 40-yard time is in the 82nd percentile of the defensive tackle class. 

Harmon reads an offense like a quarterback reads a defense. The former Michigan State Spartan is rarely fooled by play-action or caught out by trap blocks. When linemen are quick enough to place their hands on him the 21-year-old has the power to fight through the block. 

A former three-star recruit out of high school, Harmon made 116 tackles in his 42 college games. 18 of those were tackles for a loss, he also recorded 8.5 sacks, those are Brian Burns numbers!

Five of Harmon’s sacks came in 2024 when he made 45 total tackles, but when he didn’t get to the quarterback he still had an impact. Harmon defended four passes last year and six throughout his career. The second-team All-American forced three fumbles in his two years in Oregon.   

Back in December Harmon was projected to be the 23rd overall pick. But his stock has fallen lately and, luckily enough for the Commanders, he’s now expected to be the 29th overall.

Grey Zabel. OL, NDSU

The 2025 class has a plethora of very big offensive linemen, so despite being 6-foot-6, Zabel is only in the 56th percentile! That doesn’t mean he’s not a very big man, and according to NextGen Stats, Zabel ranks as the best tackle who attended the combine! He received an 87/99 score overall! He’s not just big and exceptionally athletic (his 36.5 vertical jump at the combine was the best of any OT), Zabel is also versatile. He can play all five offensive line positions!  

Even though his 40-yard time only ranks in the 42nd percentile of this tackle class, he is an incredible mover. And nobody really wants their left tackle to have to sprint 40 yards during a game anyway. The only thing that stops Zabel from blocking defenders at the second level is pancaking the defenders at the line of scrimmage. 

Zabel blocked 1,071 passing downs in college, allowing just four sacks! Some teams may be hesitant to draft a lineman who spent his entire college career playing FCS football, but his athleticism is going to translate to the NFL.  

The North Dakota State Bison don’t just play FCS football, they dominate at that level, winning 10 titles in the last 14 years! Nash Jensen, Zack Johnson, Dillon Radunz and Cody Mauch all played in Fargo before becoming guards in the NFL.

Donovan Jackson. OL, Ohio State

Jackson just looks like an NFL lineman, but he doesn’t turn 23 until December! Jackson played both left guard and left tackle in 2024 and only allowed two sacks on the 395 pass-blocking snaps he played! 

Even though he didn’t perform any tests at the combine NextGen Stats ranked Jackson as the second-best guard in the class. Jackson’s most impressive trait is his foot speed. When he’s run blocking he immediately gets in a strong position to wall off defenders at the line of scrimmage and when he gets to the chance to block at the second level he dominates defenders. 

His pass blocking is less impressive, but he has the upper body strength to slow pass rushers down at the point of impact. That’s one of the reasons Jackson is expected to be an NFL guard and not a tackle. But his versatility will make him a valuable commodity when the draft rolls around. 

At one stage the Texas native projected as the 49th overall pick back in December, but after an impressive playoff run culminating with a National Championship win, he’s now expected to be the 34th overall pick.

Landon Jackson. DE, Arkansas

He’s tall and despite being listed at 264 pounds he looks very slim, but he also looks really fun to watch and awful to play against. Jackson is one of those guys who never stops and Dan Quinn will love that. 

Jackson isn’t an out-and-out pass rusher. He did record 16 sacks in his 42 games in college but he made 116 total tackles. 28 of those were tackles for a loss! He also defended two passes and forced two fumbles. The Texas native is an impressive athlete though. NextGen Stats scored Jackson 86 out of 99 for athleticism, ranking him second in the EDGE class.  

Jackson is in the 91st percentile of the EDGE class for his height and his 40-time (4.68 seconds) and in the 99th percentile when it comes to his vertical jump and broad jump! He is only in the 19th percentile of the class in terms of weight though, but that shouldn’t affect his draft stock. 

22-year-old Jackson is expected to be drafted somewhere between the 32nd and 45th pick, someone could get a game-changer in the second round. 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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