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The Washington Commanders can officially call themselves Super Bowl contenders for 2025. Those thoughts haven’t surfaced in the nation’s capitol since winning Super Bowl 26.
Head coach Dan Quinn took over a team that hadn’t gone back to the conference title game since that 1991 championship season. Quinn’s first big move was drafting Jayden Daniels as the No. 2 overall pick. Daniels responded by delivering a season for the ages as a rookie in spearheading the NFC Championship game run. The Commanders QB even broke a rookie record despite the loss.
The Daniels selection sets the tone for the future drafts involving Washington. Quinn, general manager Adam Peters and company can now capitalize on their epic playoff run by delivering another bold first round selection.
Giving Daniels help will emerge at the forefront. But defensive help shouldn’t get ignored either. Here are three early Commanders draft targets at selection No. 29 ahead of April 25.
Daniels still took an astonishing 47 sacks during the regular season. The Philadelphia Eagles tussled him down three times in the NFC title game.
Protecting the future of the franchise is a must this offseason. Quinn and Peters can dip into the free agent market and maybe pursue free agents like Ronnie Stanley of the Baltimore Ravens, or Alaric Jackson from the Los Angeles Rams.
But this draft class presents itself as a tackle-heavy one. The national champion Simmons is one of the better late first round options to consider. He’s equipped with strong awareness of oncoming rushers and plays with urgency. Even NFL Network draft analysis Daniel Jeremiah is one who believes the 6-foot-5, 310-pounder should land 29th overall in his latest mock draft.
Quinn, though, can opt for his area of expertise of defense for his next first round option. And Tuimoloau is a fiery one from the national champs to consider.
Tuimoloau brings towering 6-foot-5, 269-pounds to the trenches. But he becomes a relentless ball of energy once the ball moves. He’s a bull rushing expert who dominates offensive tackles with that hard-charging move. But he can wickedly spin his way out of a tackle’s grasp and chase down quarterbacks from there.
He’s even heady enough to snuff out screen passes. He’ll need to clean up his hand moves moving forward. But Washington’s top pass rusher Dante Fowler is a free agent this spring, which explains why Tuimoloau should be on Washington’s big board.
But once again, the theme of this offseason is add help for Daniels. And that includes pursuing more weapons for him.
Terry McLaurin is an established veteran wide receiver who made life easy for Daniels. But he’s hitting 30 next season and will need help on the perimeter. “Scary Terry” can still blow the top off defenses after all these years. Washington, though, needs someone longer and more physical next to him.
That’s where Tre Harris of Ole Miss enters...
