There is a possibility that all the Downs talk is just draft posturing. The hopes could be to gett someone to take him or move up to take him so that gives them a better shot at the LB/edge or whoever it is thatt they really want.
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The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall
- Thread starter Canadian Hog
- Start date
I think with this type of stuff the media-fan perception, etc. lol, I think Conn if I had to pick someone here gets my drift. I get how to hit back on that point and I've had plenty do it for the last 15 years or so but those hit back responses haven't aged well. Although, I do think we are legit getting out of the wilderness so all those old debates will finally become irrelevant. But will see.
Along with all the Snyder craziness and the losing over decades -- it does bother me that this team perception wise isn't considered a winner or cool or interesting so to speak. I've talked about this often from the framework of my kids, working on them becoming fans of this team not living in Washington. For example, I know some Washington fans who don't even bother and just by osmosis let their kids root for other NFL teams including one of my closer family members.
I know the cool response is to say who cares how cool the team is considered or whether other fan bases find this team interesting or not. But lol, bringing it back to my kids. In 2024, I got one of my disinterested in sports kids to actually get excited about this team for the first time in their lifetime. That was fun for me and I took them to multiple games. And my son was into it and was an easy sell for a change. Last year my son checked out and said he can care less about the Commanders. And when we were giving clothes away to charity he dumped almost every Commanders shirts including the Jayden stuff. And lol, that was painful for me to hear considering how much time I've invested and how many games I've taken them to.
So yeah maybe this team isn't sexy and fun with the national media this off season. And we don't get the prime time games. And we read articles that its the Bears and not Washington should be signing Trey Hendrickson because the Bears are true contenders. And heck Jayden maybe isn't it. And we are 20 or lower in the power rankings.
And the response is who gives a rats ass? And lol my answer to that is for almost two decades I've gotten that response from other fans on the board saying the perception doesn't match how good this team truly is so let them sleep on us. Let us go below the radar even better! And the problem has been the percpetion too often has been right. But if I can have a dollar for everytime someone told me let the NFL care about other teams let them sleep on this one -- ignore it, we will get the last laugh. Sounds awesome in real time but in the end I rarely did get the last laugh,
Growing up with this team, they were winners. They were considered among the smartest and most consistent winning teams in the NFL. It was my dad who got me into the team eons ago even though I didn't live in DC. I've tried to do the same with my kids and lol have put in ten times the effort that my dad did with me, and its been one heck of a struggle.
And yeah call me crazy but I did enjoy growing up rooting for one of the cool teams. And I've seen even with some of my friends where their kids are Patriot, Ravens Steeler fans that the coolness of the franchise and that includes the perception of them being a winner does matter.
So that's my long winded way of saying while I think the team bounces back next season, I am not going to enjoy the ride of so many counting this team out this off season and relegating back to the uncool class of teams until the season starts. And yes of course I get its just perception BS. But lol I think some people here are lying if they said they didn't enjoy the bonus of not just winning in 2024 but as Todd McShay said before the 2025 draft, welcome to the cool kids table, Washington, finally!!! It's a long off season and being hyped was a blast to me. And I've seen enough posts to know it was a blast for some others, too.
The perception game of fans nationally-national media (having super stars, getting prime time games) and winning typically aren't a mile apart.
Bringing this back on point, I don't think this team can afford a medicore to bad season in 2026. I don't think the average fan are like us who will watch any product no matter what the stakes and what the record is. Harris inherited a mess. And I think two bad seasons in a row would sort of cement this sort of loser pall that's been hovering over this organization. I think most of us here are immune to it because we are used to it and are diehards. But I don't think we are the average fans.
If I had to think of worst teams than this one in recent decades, the Jets would be one of them. Maybe the Browns. Both teams with the reps of QBs go there to die. With that in mind, I don't love the look of people close to Jayden mocking the receiving crew. This team arguably doing much less for Jayden than the other teams have done for the 2024 class QBs.
And the idea of we got the rookie of the year and then year 2 is a big comedown -- isn't some wild we haven't been on this ride before drill. IMO its absolutely imperative that we help Jayden bounce back. lol, its my very long winded way of saying yes it bothers me that some don't think Jayden is the best of that class anymore, yes it bothers me that people close to Jayden are mocking the WR crew, yes it bothers me that Warner says Jayden regressed and the team's response is well yeah but that's on the WRs, and yes it bother me that the Bears especially will give Caleb every weapon under the sun, and we got players off the street and mid round draft picks as supposedly big answers for Jayden. lol, this has to stop.
This really resonates with me, yes. I grew up in CT, have lived in Boston for the past 13 years. Grew up surrounded by Pats + Giants fans. Grew up thinking my father raising me a Redskins fan was borderline child abuse and horrible for my social life and self esteem when I was young lol. Interacting with the team news and fandom almost entirely through message boards like this, and media stories.
It matters to me to get back to a place where we’re respected. I’d love to be walking through Boston in my Washington hoodie in a couple years and be accused of being a bandwagon fan, and have to explain the suffering I went through for decades to get there. It matters, big picture. It matters to FA NFL players as well, and agents and potential coaches, etc.
People tell themselves it doesn’t matter, that they like being underestimated and they like being the underdog, they like not earning night games, they like being ranked low. It’s a coping mechanism. When we’re good again and can earn and then back up the hype, people will have a lot more fun. It’ll be a lot easier to grow the fanbase, a lot easier to fill the stadium with the home fans like we want to have an advantage, a lot easier to get kids into the team and to get players to want to play here.
It’s not about “caring” what specific clickbait talking heads think. That’s a red herring. It’s about being relevant and becoming successful enough to not wilt under pressure.
Maybe. But 5 is pretty high for a safety and higher than that (to jump them) is…well, even higher for a safety. And trading above them, almost into the top-3, to take a safety, is pretty much unheard of. So, yeah. Always have to consider smoke screens. And he didn’t say “we will take him” literally, he just gushed about him. But they’re a realistic landing spot.
It's possible, getting a team behind him to not worry about what they do, I doubt the Browns for example are interested in Downs. Their safety room is fine. But supposedly both NY and Cleveland have WR high on their list. Maybe for example they don't want the Browns to trade ahead of them or whatver else.
Playing off of this point which I agree with. Harbaugh could have no fear of anyone else taking a safety ahead of him so why be coy? Also Harbaugh for better or worse seems to be bent on driving the Giant hype machine. So why not call your offensive coordinator the best in ther league? Have your most famous players say they will be in the SB soon. And he also talks SB. So in that theme why not say the player you expect to take is a Hall of Famer?
We have very similar backgrounds, the main difference being that I was literally the only skins fan in my universe, my entire family was all patriots fans I just decided to be different.
If I recall correctly im a little bit older than you and i was fortunate enough to have the glory years be my introduction to this team and I still vaguely recall what it was like to be the respected franchise while the patriots were the dumpster fire, boy has that script flipped.
I used to feel a little bad for them and although I never really had more than one allegiance I used to say the patriots were my number 2 team because its my home team but now im much happier seeing them lose, I very much enjoyed the superbowl.
Anyway I agree, I'd love to see washington back to a respectable franchise and I believe eventually with the new stadium and several years departed from Snyder we'll get there.
Absolutely.
And agree its a coping mechanism for some. Over the years I recall variations of posts with points like -- specifically as to points A, B, D.
A. Hey we don't want to be on Hard Knocks, we don't need the attention.
B. Lets go below the radar, we know this team is good enough so screw the national media when they don't believe in us
C. Who gives a crap if kids in the DMV wear Lamar Jackson jerseys primarily and stars from other teams and lol its one of the only local teams nationally that isn't celebrated by the youth in the area
D. We'd rather be on 1 pm anyway, prime time is exhausting -- the changes in schedule and heck we will do better laying low anyway
E. Who cares if other teams have their players in name that top 100 count or All Pro selections, and we don't screw that...
F. Who gives a crap if other teams have successfully branded themselves as successes and have developed national bandwagon fans with a whole new generation of fans behind them. We don't play that game and we don't care. When was the last time the Steelers won a playoff game?
The reason why to me its clear its coping mechanism for some (not all) is how bananas in a good way fans get on social media in 2012 and the euphoria of 2024, they eat it up. So when its gone, its who cares. It feels better to think or say that. I get it. But maybe its about living in a place where there are so many transplants from other states and seeing so much representation as to sports fans from everywhere so I get into plenty of conversation and also over time I can see the teams that my friends kids ends up rooting for. Even though its Florida, people aren't married in my sphere to Florida teams. But lol it might be shocking but I see no young fans in my circle adopting Washington as their team.
I bet some people care even though the cool response is they don't care one whit about local or national excitement. Give me zero talk on the pregame shows, let them have their fun talking about Drake Maye, give us Jonathan Vilma or name that lowest tier TV crew. We don't need all that attention on Sunday Night Football.
Yeah all of it is gravy. And I get the does it really matter just focus on wins and losses. I'll feel that way once this team is a consistent winner. But for now, this team is still stuck in purgatory. That is, its scrambiling for that buzz because they don't win enough to get it organically.
2024 was a wild change. It felt unbelievable. I traveled to 4 games including one in DC. I am jumping on twitter on the road reading about how Jayden was the top selling jersey internationally while walking by a kiosk near the national mall selling bootleg Jayden Daniel jerseys. I go to the farmers market at home and wait in line and have people talk to me seeing me wear a Washington T-shirt and talk about Jayden. lol, my dentist is a Lions fan and I had to see him the week after Washington beat them in the playoffs and we are just going back and forth on it.
All of that stuff is fun for me. The bonus of winning. Because when this team lost -- it was a more miserable form of just losing. You got the scandals. The team became a punch line. People actually asked me why Washington. Heck I recall twice an ESPN panel asked two celebrity Washington fans years back -- Washington, how come Washington.
IMO we are not that far removed from that. If they didn't have that 2024 season, this team would be as much of a joke status one as the Jets. So hopefully, they get the act together this season. I think they will.
But yeah specfically to Jayden, I don't want this team to be a punchline team of this is where young QBs go to die. We already saw Jayden's mom telling fans to stop with the RG3 comps it just gives bad karma, we got her and Nabers mocking the quality WRs of this team with some social media likes. I know some disagree but at the moment is their a franchise who has done less for their young QB than this one?
I am reading about the Saints and the Giants for example who have a better receiving crew than this team apparently in code red mode to improve their receiving corp. IMO we got to do the same thing because if we have another season that goes off the rails partly because Jayden has no one to throw to then the punchline status will be earned.
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philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
I watched Conner Lew, the 6'2", 300-pound center from Auburn, in his games against Georgia and Texas A&M. Against Georgia he saw a lot of Christian Miller, and against Texas A&M he matched up frequently with Albert Regis, so he was consistently going against NFL-caliber defensive linemen.
Run Blocking: Lew is a good run blocker, but he is not physically imposing. His biggest strength in the run game is climbing to the second level. His pacing is fantastic. He keeps a stable base in space and almost always arrives under control. When climbing to linebackers, he consistently reaches his target and makes clean contact. The issue is what happens after contact. He does not handle punches particularly well, and strong linebackers like CJ Allen (a borderline first-round prospect) can disengage once they lock onto him. He almost always gets there, but he doesn’t always sustain against higher-end athletes. He is not a displacement player. Even on double teams, he doesn’t move defenders much. You’ll see the guard engaged on a defensive tackle and Lew come in to assist, but the defensive tackle barely moves. He doesn’t have particularly strong hands or grip strength. Against stronger defensive linemen like Christian Miller, he can be stacked and locked out because he doesn’t generate a lot of knock-back power.
That said, he does a lot of things well. His hand placement is excellent — consistently inside the breastplate. His hips are flexible, and he does a great job swiveling and sealing run lanes by getting his hips around and positioning his body between the defender and the ball. His feet are good, and he has an explosive first step. His run-game anchor is solid — not elite, but good enough. He can bend like a center should; when force is applied to his chest, his upper body can give without his lower body losing its base. Even when Christian Miller stacked him, it was more about Miller’s strength and length than Lew completely losing.
Pass Blocking: For someone who isn’t physically dominant, his pass protection anchor is impressive. He uses a jump set, which is common for smaller interior linemen, and he anchors very well. He absorbs force in his upper body while keeping his lower body stable, which allows him to withstand speed-to-power attempts. He shows the same good hand placement in pass pro and can quickly re-establish his hands if initially knocked off. It is very difficult to convert speed to power on him. CJ Allen had two reps where he got a running four-yard head start and still could not move Lew. Those were impressive anchor reps. He did give up a sack against Texas A&M when he failed to sustain the block — I don’t recall the exact move used to disengage — but the initial contact was clean. Even his losses are not quick losses. He doesn’t get beaten immediately off the snap. He has great spacing with both guards and does not over or under set except on one snap where he overset. For all taht I said in the run blocking about him being great in space, he missed Taurean York on a screen pass and York made a tackle for a slightly loss, but the issue was Lew got his head around a tad slow and York diagnosed that play really fast.
Overall: Lew is a good center prospect as long as you’re comfortable with a player who is not physically imposing. He’s solid in both the run and pass game. He climbs well, anchors well, and plays with clean technique. The main limitation is displacement. If your run scheme requires consistent movement at the point of attack and vertical push from the center, he may not be the ideal fit. But if you value stability, technique, second-level efficiency, and pass protection reliability, he projects as a quality NFL center. His lack of size means he may not have the verstaility to play Guard. It looks like he will get drafted in the 3rd or 4th round so without a 4th round pick hes another player we would have to use pick 71 which would be okay but not good value and probably not a wise pick considering center is not an immediate need. At 145 he'd be a nice value, but the odds are he'll be gone by then. Further even if he is a good value, given center is not a need and he may lack Guard verstiality and we only have 5 picks, I doubt we take him, but he is a nice player.
Here is the first quarter or so of the video I watched....
Run Blocking: Lew is a good run blocker, but he is not physically imposing. His biggest strength in the run game is climbing to the second level. His pacing is fantastic. He keeps a stable base in space and almost always arrives under control. When climbing to linebackers, he consistently reaches his target and makes clean contact. The issue is what happens after contact. He does not handle punches particularly well, and strong linebackers like CJ Allen (a borderline first-round prospect) can disengage once they lock onto him. He almost always gets there, but he doesn’t always sustain against higher-end athletes. He is not a displacement player. Even on double teams, he doesn’t move defenders much. You’ll see the guard engaged on a defensive tackle and Lew come in to assist, but the defensive tackle barely moves. He doesn’t have particularly strong hands or grip strength. Against stronger defensive linemen like Christian Miller, he can be stacked and locked out because he doesn’t generate a lot of knock-back power.
That said, he does a lot of things well. His hand placement is excellent — consistently inside the breastplate. His hips are flexible, and he does a great job swiveling and sealing run lanes by getting his hips around and positioning his body between the defender and the ball. His feet are good, and he has an explosive first step. His run-game anchor is solid — not elite, but good enough. He can bend like a center should; when force is applied to his chest, his upper body can give without his lower body losing its base. Even when Christian Miller stacked him, it was more about Miller’s strength and length than Lew completely losing.
Pass Blocking: For someone who isn’t physically dominant, his pass protection anchor is impressive. He uses a jump set, which is common for smaller interior linemen, and he anchors very well. He absorbs force in his upper body while keeping his lower body stable, which allows him to withstand speed-to-power attempts. He shows the same good hand placement in pass pro and can quickly re-establish his hands if initially knocked off. It is very difficult to convert speed to power on him. CJ Allen had two reps where he got a running four-yard head start and still could not move Lew. Those were impressive anchor reps. He did give up a sack against Texas A&M when he failed to sustain the block — I don’t recall the exact move used to disengage — but the initial contact was clean. Even his losses are not quick losses. He doesn’t get beaten immediately off the snap. He has great spacing with both guards and does not over or under set except on one snap where he overset. For all taht I said in the run blocking about him being great in space, he missed Taurean York on a screen pass and York made a tackle for a slightly loss, but the issue was Lew got his head around a tad slow and York diagnosed that play really fast.
Overall: Lew is a good center prospect as long as you’re comfortable with a player who is not physically imposing. He’s solid in both the run and pass game. He climbs well, anchors well, and plays with clean technique. The main limitation is displacement. If your run scheme requires consistent movement at the point of attack and vertical push from the center, he may not be the ideal fit. But if you value stability, technique, second-level efficiency, and pass protection reliability, he projects as a quality NFL center. His lack of size means he may not have the verstaility to play Guard. It looks like he will get drafted in the 3rd or 4th round so without a 4th round pick hes another player we would have to use pick 71 which would be okay but not good value and probably not a wise pick considering center is not an immediate need. At 145 he'd be a nice value, but the odds are he'll be gone by then. Further even if he is a good value, given center is not a need and he may lack Guard verstiality and we only have 5 picks, I doubt we take him, but he is a nice player.
Here is the first quarter or so of the video I watched....
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Yeah, I’m 36 so I missed the glory years, but otherwise very similar. Agreed across the board, Brady eventually grew on me in his later years just because he was undeniable, but I still always experience a nice adrenaline shot of schadenfraude when they lose. Especially now with the Maye/Daniels stuff from the outside.
I can relate to the Giants part. I married a NYer. And I went to college in NY. And I lived some of my youth a stones throw away from the Meadowlands. So I got exposed to the Giants in a big way. And of course, I also have a relative in NY and a close college friend from NY who are Cowboy fans.
I know in my circle Cowboy, Steeler, Ravens, 49er, Patriot, Chief fans who have zero attachment and ties to those cities, some bandwagon driven, some converts, some of it is their kids.
When I was growing up Washington was a brand team. It was one of those "cool" club teams. Now that would be borderline ridiculous. And yeah part of my love of sports is the conversation about it. It garners so much conversation with strangers among other things. And yeah its my favorite thing to watch and listen to.
And it felt like we were about to turn a wild corner on all of this in 2024. Where I had the last laugh for a change in conversation where lol fans I knew were jealous of me as to my sports team for a change.
I am hoping to get that back. And yeah it matters to me. Now it doesn't matter more than winning. But the two go hand in hand. The buzz is a bonus. And while some clearly don't care about the bonus of the hype and relevance -- I do enjoy it. And much of it is because of experiencing the absolute opposite of it for decades.
HTTR
The Starter
Damn that sucks! You basically got the Snyder years instead of the Brady years. Ouch. But kudos to you for hanging on, it would’ve been easy to jump ship and hop on the Pats bandwagon. Makes you a great fan and very deserving of the good times that are hopefully right around the corner. Staying loyal will bring you far more joy when they finally win than you ever could’ve experienced by getting on the bandwagon.
prodigy
The 1st Round Pick
haha, sucker!
j/p. my condolences. seriously. i respect anyone that came from post-glory years and stayed a fan.
I think that's the one upside of all the misery, when you got a taste of winning it feels so much more fun and deeper at least it does to me than it did during the glory years where I took it for granted.
I was at that Tampa playoff win and it was my top live sports experience ever and I've been too many games in many sports.
When you weave fandom into your identity the way that we who populate these message boards tend to, I think this yearning for relevance (that comes along with winning) is even stronger. It’s wrapped up in who we are. Because at the end of your life, all you ever were is the list of things you did, the time you spent, the people you impacted. And for us a goodly portion of that is our relationship with this team and the people we’ve connected with through that. Different sized portions for everyone, but sizable enough to be worth mentioning in any event. So it’s natural to care.
Appreciate it. The relationships I made on these message boards over the years was my lifeline in the darkest Snyder years, tbh. Like group therapy. It never would’ve felt real to jump ship, as much as I wished I could lol.
But you’re right, there’s something to sticking it out and “earning” it that feels aspirational.
A couple weeks ago before the Super Bowl I had one of my employees jokingly talking trash, saying they may be a bandwagon fan but at least they don’t have to suffer through watching something called “the Commanders” be bad. And I was like “hey, enjoy it. It’s cool to get to support your hometown team when they’re good, even if you aren’t a hardcore fan. But you’ll never enjoy it as much as the guy who suffered through multiple 4-12 seasons and then rode it from the ashes to the mountain top. That’s unique to hardcore fans”
It wasn’t considered a compelling argument lol. But for the people who know, it is.
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Agree. And there is a peripheral connection with people in my life and this team even when they aren't sports fans, because its so tied to what people know me for.
Many examples of this. I have a long time college friend who I haven't talked to in years who isn't that into sports texting me during the Tampa playoff game, saying go Washington, so I hit him back that I am at the game and we text back and forth.
I am talking to my friend on the phone and her son a Pats fan was in the car with her, they are on speaker and it turns to a Maye versus Daniels talk between me and her son.
On and on. lol, so my fandom often surfaces in some way or another even outside of this board almost every week including the long off season -- its part of the soup for me, the discussions, the relevancy, the back and forth, etc.
And at least to those who like me in my circle some of them have become quasi Washington fans just because they know I am so tied to them -- the same person whose son roots for the Patriots, likes to say hey when Washington plays I root for them for you. A got a colleague who is a hard core Dolphins fan and we talk a lot of ball and he also goes he roots for Washington outside of the Dolphins on my behalf.
When Washington is talked about or in prime TV or in the playoffs, anything that puts them on people's radar -- I get an extra kick out of it within my circle. And i'd bet plenty here can identify with that especially the out of towners.
And on the discussion front, Jayden has been incredible because he's a conversation starter that goes beyond the team. I am in line at Disney World and twice got into fun conversations in the 2025 off season -- one with an LSU fan who just loves Jayden even though they aren't Washington fans. Then I got another person who said they know Jayden's family and they stopped me to talk when they saw me wearing a Daniels jersey. I love wearing jerseys in Disney in part for those random football conversations. But lol, my football fandom has a life in the long off season and it more fun when the team is relevant.
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method man
The Starter
Taking injury out of the equation, who has the lowest floor to you? Feels like Boston to me because he is the worst of the bunch when it comes to separation.
Another Q on him is can you have him play big slot? Would he be better there vs on the outside?
Anselmheifer
The Starter
My issue with this, is that I think there is a very high likelihood that Bailey and Bain are off the board at 7.
I think there is a very high likelihood that we are choosing between Styles, Love, maybe Downs, and less likely, Tate.
method man
The Starter
I know he excites people the least here (actually maybe it’s Faulk) but, if Reese is on the board and they keep the pick, I think they take him
burgold
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NY is in a weird position given their draft pick. You can never have too many edge rushers, but they really don't need an edge. They think they're happy at QB. So, maybe T makes sense? They could go WR, CB, or S, too though I'm not sure the value is really there.
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