2024 Road to the Draft – Part 9
March 15, 2023
By Noonefromtampa
Updates
Washington signing of tight end Zach Ertz before the official start of free agency was sort of a ho-hum move. Then the team opened the flood gates, signing RB Austin Ekeler, C Tyler Biadasz, DE Dorance Armstrong, TE Zach Ertz, OL Nick Allegretti, LB Frankie Luvu, K Brandon McManus, QB Marcus Mariota, DE Clelin Ferrell, S Jeremy Chinn, LS Tyler Ott, LB Bobby Wagner and re-signing Jeremy Reave plus Jamison Crowder. Adam Peters and company commenced the roster re-build in a big way.
Draft Data
The mock draft count is 246 this week, up 28 from last week. The Commanders will have the 2nd overall pick in the first round.
The freshness distribution of the mock draft data is that 57% of the mocks tracked has updated in the last three weeks.
The position picked by descending frequency is:
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % | Last Week % | % Change |
| QB | 231 | 93.90% | 93.12% | 0.78% |
| OT | 9 | 3.66% | 4.59% | -0.93% |
| WR | 4 | 1.63% | 1.38% | 0.25% |
| Edge | 2 | 0.81% | 0.92% | -0.10% |
| TE | 0 | 0.49% | 0.49% | 0.00% |
| CB | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| IOL | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| DL | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LB | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| RB | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| S | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Grand Total | 246 | 100% |
The top gaining position this week was quarterback.
The players mock picked to the Commanders at the 2nd pick are in descending frequency:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Drake Maye | QB | North Carolina | 135 | 54.88% |
| Jayden Daniels | QB | LSU | 75 | 30.49% |
| Caleb Williams | QB | USC | 21 | 8.54% |
| Joe Alt | OT | Notre Dame | 5 | 2.03% |
| Olumuyiwa Fashanu | OT | Penn State | 4 | 1.63% |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | WR | Ohio State | 3 | 1.22% |
| Malik Nabers | WR | LSU | 1 | 0.41% |
| Laiatu Latu | Edge | UCLA | 1 | 0.41% |
| Dallas Turner | Edge | Alabama | 1 | 0.41% |
| Grand Total | 246 | 100.00% |
Jayden Daniels rose another 4% this week and is now over triple the percentage of Caleb Williams selections.
Thoughts
After the burst of signings in free agency the focus will turn to the draft. I think the two moves Washington will consider are drafting Jayden Daniels or trading back and adding even more new players to the roster. The moves in free agency have addressed a number of needs on the team, but what needs to be done with the quarterback position will drive the future of the team.
Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com, nfldraftbuzz.com, overthecap.com, sports-reference.com