2023 Road to the Draft – Part 4

Posted on by

February 6, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Since the Super Bowl has yet to be played, no major news about any potential sale of the Washington franchise has leaked out. Eric Bieniemy isn’t available to be interviewed until after the Super Bowl also, so no new offensive coordinator has been named yet either.

Let’s Talk Tight Ends

The 2022 season was not a very good one for Washington’s tight end position group. Their 2022 stats are:

Rk Player Age Pos G GS Tgt Rec Ctch% Yds Y/R TD 1D
32 Logan Thomas 31 TE 14 13 61 39 63.90% 323 8.3 1 15
70 John Bates 25 TE 16 7 22 14 63.60% 108 7.7 1 4
85 Armani Rogers 25 TE 11 3 6 5 83.30% 64 12.8 0 4
99 Cole Turner 22 TE 10 2 9 2 22.20% 23 11.5 0 1

The ranking is based on receiving yards. As a group, that is 60 catches for 518 yards and two touchdowns. In total, the group would have only ranked 14th against the entire NFL tight end individual rankings. A good tight end is the friend of a young quarterback. They can provide an easy outlet on pass plays where the wide receivers are covered. They are also a large target on third downs, often able to pick up the first down on third and short or intermediate distances.

Cutting Logan Thomas has a net cap savings of just over five million dollars. So it is conceivable the Commanders could release him and go either a free agent signing or draft pick. This is a pretty decent draft for tight ends in the early rounds (1 through 4). Here are some names to watch out for in the run up to the draft.

Prospect College Position Ht Wt
Michael Mayer Notre Dame TE 6’5″ 251
Luke Musgrave Oregon State TE 6’6″ 252
Dalton Kincaid Utah TE 6’4″ 242
Sam LaPorta Iowa TE 6’4″ 249
Darnell Washington Georgia TE 6’6″ 265
Cameron Latu Alabama TE 6’4″ 250
Tucker Kraft South Dakota State TE 6’5″ 255
Payne Durham Purdue TE 6’5″ 255

The Hog Sty will have detailed position reviews over the coming weeks.

Mock Draft Data

The number of mock drafts is up 12 this week to 111. The Commanders will have the 16th overall pick in the first round. The position picked by descending frequency is:

Position Picked Count Picked % Last Week % % Change
CB 73 65.77% 61.62% 4.15%
QB 13 11.71% 11.11% 0.60%
LB 8 7.21% 7.07% 0.14%
OT 8 7.21% 7.07% 0.14%
TE 4 3.60% 5.05% -1.45%
DL 2 1.80% 4.04% -2.24%
IOL 2 1.80% 3.03% -1.23%
WR 1 0.90% 1.01% -0.11%
S 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Edge 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
RB 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Grand Total 111 100%  

The players mock picked to the Commanders at the 16th pick are, in descending frequency:

Player Position School Picked Count Picked %
Christian Gonzalez CB Oregon 23 20.72%
Joey Porter Jr CB Penn State 15 13.51%
Cam Smith CB South Carolina 13 11.71%
Anthony Richardson QB Florida 12 10.81%
Devon Witherspoon CB Illinois 9 8.11%
Kelee Ringo CB Georgia 8 7.21%
Brian Branch CB Alabama 5 4.50%
Paris Johnson Jr OT Ohio State 3 2.70%
Michael Mayer TE Notre Dame 3 2.70%
Noah Sewell LB Oregon 3 2.70%
Nolan Smith LB Georgia 2 1.80%
Peter Skoronski OT Northwestern 2 1.80%
O’Cyrus Torrence IOL Florida 2 1.80%
Trenton Simpson LB Clemson 2 1.80%
Bryan Bresee DL Clemson 1 0.90%
Broderick Jones OT Georgia 1 0.90%
Drew Sanders LB Arkansas 1 0.90%
Darnell Wright OT Tennessee 1 0.90%
Dalton Kincaid TE Utah 1 0.90%
Jalin Hyatt WR Tennessee 1 0.90%
Anton Harrison OT Oklahoma 1 0.90%
Mike Morris DL Michigan 1 0.90%
Will Levis QB Kentucky 1 0.90%
Grand Total 111 100.00%

 

 

Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com, grindingthemocks.com, nfldraftbuzz.com, overthcap.com, spotrac.com