Hogs Haven
Washington Commanders mock draft
As inspiring as Washington’s 2024 season was, by the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game, things were sufficiently out of hand that my mind had begun to wander. Washington’s glorious season was about to end, but another - bound to be even yet more glorious - was on the cusp of beginning. With this, inaugural 2025 mock draft, the next season has begun. Let’s learn about some prospects.
Washington goes into the 2025 draft with a solid foundation, one of the best, young quarterbacks in the league, and a high octane front office. With its Super Bowl window opened in 2024, it’s now time to figure out how to build a team that can defenestrate the opposition.
This is the first of my 2025 pre-draft mocks, conducted using the Pro Football Network mock draft simulator.
With its first pick of the 2025 draft, Washington reunites Jayden Daniels with his award-winning left tackle from college. Over three seasons, Campbell started 38 games at left tackle, though his projection is to potentially move to the interior as a pro.
From his draft profile:
Campbell is a smooth operator with a polished, well-rounded skill set and a natural feel for the position due to very good footwork, hand placement, play strength, and competitive toughness. He is an adept run blocker who can secure and create immediate displacement on angle-drive and base blocks with the body control and balance to recover, sustain and finish at a high level. He doesn’t bring a ton of mass, girth or length but has very good core strength and strong hands to torque and control defenders away from the ball.
In pass protection, Campbell is a fluid mover to the spot with excellent strike timing and hand placement to latch inside the frame of his target and efficiently transition into his anchor when rushers use power. He can expand and protect the corner against speed off of the edge while remaining balanced through the top of the quarterback’s drop. Campbell can get over-aggressive in his set against widely-aligned, high-side rushes, which results in drifting and oversetting, leaving room for inside counters to gain access to his inside half. He also has a tendency to punch down the middle with his outside hand on an island that creates short corners and leave him vulnerable to the cross-chop (Ex: Week 10 vs. Arkansas edge-rusher Landon Jackson).
Overall, Campbell is a prime candidate to move inside as a pro. He has the makeup, movement skills, play strength, and competitive toughness to make a smooth transition to guard or center and be an impact starter with Pro Bowl potential during his rookie contract.
Washington absolutely has to upgrade its WR room this offseason. Whether that’s by adding a free agent in the mold of Tee Higgins and/or using Day 2 draft...
