Commanders Mock Draft: Washington Trades Up?

The Washington Commanders traded up and addressed a pair of needs in a two-round mock draft.

With the Super Bowl only a week away, the draft season will soon be in full swing.

In USAToday's Draft Wire’s two-round mock draft, they had the Washington Commanders add to their secondary and boost the trenches.

Washington currently has the 16th pick in the draft, but Draft Wire had the Commanders trading up three spots with the New York Jets to take Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

“The Jets’ biggest need is offensive tackle, but with both Skoronski and Johnson already off the board, they take a mid-round pick from Washington to move down a few spots and get better value,” Draft Wire writes. “The Commanders know the Panthers might be targeting a top corner at No. 14, so they jump ahead to grab this Colorado transfer with and elite combination of size, length, and ball skills.

In 2022, Gonzalez had four interceptions, seven passes defended and 35 tackles. Gonzalez had no interceptions in his collegiate career before the season.

Washington trading up wouldn’t surprise anyone, though most would expect it to be for a quarterback. Four quarterbacks got taken within the first seven picks of the mock draft.

Gonzalez would likely slide alongside Kendall Fuller for a defense that ranked third in yards allowed per game and eighth in points allowed per game.

In the second round, Draft Wire had Washington take Oklahoma offensive tackle and Washington D.C. native Anton Harrison. The 6-5, 315-pound offensive lineman saw playing time in each of his three seasons as a Sooner. He was the team’s starting left tackle in 2021 and 2022.

With question marks at cornerback and the offensive line, this mock draft takes care of the Commanders needs early and provides new potential starters on each side of the ball ... a sign of a promising rookie class.

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