For the Washington Commanders, success moving forward might mean not taking a player early in the first round for a very long time. It’s something both the franchise and the fan base would probably welcome with open arms.
That doesn’t mean the Commanders can’t take home run swings in the NFL draft, especially in the first round. That mostly will mean building around superstar quarterback and 2024 No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders showed their bend toward doing that in 2025, when they drafted Oregon offensive tackle Josh Conerly at No. 29 overall and he already looks like a plug and play starter.
ESPN’s Field Yates predicts the Commanders will continue to build around Daniels in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft, albeit in a little more underwhelming fashion with Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard at No. 25 overall.
Bernard, 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, led the Crimson Tide with 50 receptions in 2024 to go with 794 receiving yards but only scored 1 touchdown and has just 3 touchdowns through his first 3 college seasons.
While a breakout season could be on the way for Bernard in 2025, that’s considered underperforming when we’re talking about projected first round picks.
“The Terry McLaurin contract situation heightens the Commanders’ big need at wide receiver,” Yates wrote on August 20. “Deebo Samuel should provide a boost this season, but he’s scheduled to be a free agent in March. Jayden Daniels needs playmakers around him. Bernard led Alabama in catches (50) last season, but it still feels like a bigger breakout year is due; this could be a productive season for the 6-foot-1 speedster. He had a reception of at least 20 yards in 10 separate games last season en route to 794 receiving yards.”
Looking at Potential Red Flags for Bernard
Even in the current NIL era of college football where players seem to jump from school to school on a whim, Bernard’s movement should be considered a red flag.
The Las Vegas native started his college career at Michigan State in 2022, played for Washington in 2023 and transferred to Alabama for the 2024 season — and was pretty average at his first 2 stops if not all 3.
When Bernard went from Washington to Alabama he followed Washington’s head coach, Kalen DeBoer, who left the Huskies to take the job in Tuscaloosa after leading his team to a College Football Playoff national runner-up finish.
“The Las Vegas native quickly hit the transfer portal after Kalen DeBoer was hired as the Crimson Tide’s new head coach,” 247Sports’ Cody Goodwin wrote in August 2024. “His reasons for following DeBoer were simple: he loves the offense, loves that DeBoer is a winner — and, most importantly, loves that JaMarcus Shephard, his receivers coach at Washington, also came to Alabama.”
Commanders Have Dicey Situation at Wide Receiver
The Commanders aren’t in a great spot at wide receiver right now with McLaurin doing a “hold in” at training camp over a new contract extension after he earned NFL All-Pro honors for the first time in 2024 with 82 receptions for 1,096 receiving yards and a franchise single season record 13 receiving touchdowns.
Without McLaurin, the Commanders will have to turn to Samuel as their WR1 option and a group of unproven wide receivers after that to fill in the gaps.
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