Ron Rivera Reveals Commanders First Round Draft Strategy
The Washington Commanders are days away from the start of the NFL Draft, but the team has been planning out possible scenarios for months.
Holding the No. 16 pick smack dab in the middle of the round, the Commanders have a number of options in front of them on what they can do with the pick.
Washington could trade up to get a guy they really want that may not be there at No. 16, trade down like the team did last year for Jahan Dotson, or stick with the pick and take a host of positions. Head coach Ron Rivera spoke about how the team approaches the first round of the draft and what we can expect about the Commanders' thought process.
"What we want to do is put a group of guys up there and say these are the five guys that we see coming to us, what is going to happen in the next five picks and we are going to have to react to what happens," Rivera said. "Is it easy? It could be depending on what happens in front. That’s the truth of it. We are at a point where we have to react to what is in front of us first.”
There is a lot of potential for trades early in this draft before Washington can get on the clock, especially for quarterbacks. The Commanders are content with Sam Howell at the moment, which means a trade for a quarterback is unlikely, but not impossible.
However, if there are a bunch of trades for picks ahead of the Commanders that aren't on their radar, that could benefit Washington and the team could have a number of players available that it wants at No. 16. This could lead them to trading down and getting better value for their player of choice.
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