The Washington Commanders are down bad. That’s not a secret.
The franchise has only made the playoffs once in the last eight years and is closing in on two decades since their last playoff win in 2005.
Combined with a disastrous run of draft picks that haven’t panned out, and you’ve got a teamin desperate need of a new identity.
The Athletic’s Austin Mock ranked all 32 NFL rosters heading into the 2024 NFL draft on April 25-27 in Detroit and put the Commanders at No. 32 — dead last out of all NFL teams.
Mock used his NFL Projection model which “takes into account an array of metrics and tries to put a ‘value’ on every player. This value is essentially how many points above average a player brings to his team in a typical NFL game.”
“There isn’t much to say about the worst roster in the NFL,” Mock wrote. “The Commanders will very likely be drafting their QB of the future, and with the rest of their picks, they’ll simply be looking to acquire talent. A couple of bright spots: My model is a big Frankie Luvu fan, so I think the linebackers should be solid and so, too, should the interior OL.”
OK … Who in the World is Frankie Luvu?
Luvu was one of the bigger splashes for the Commanders in free agency in 2024, signing a 3-year, $31 million contract with the team on March 14.
Luvu, a 6-foot-3, 236-pound linebacker, made the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State in 2018 and only started four games over his first three seasons. Luvu signed a 1-year, $1.1 million contract with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 then a 2-year, $9.9 million contract with the Panthers in 2022.
Luvu became a full-time starter in 2022 and racked up 236 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 1 interception return for a touchdown over the last two seasons.
“Aside from him hitting me all the time, I’ve gotten to know him a little bit over the course of the last six or seven years,” Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota said. “Man, if you ever just turn on tape and watch that guy run around and make plays, it’s really, really impressive.”
What Commanders Can Do to Improve in 2024
Over the last year, the Commanders have basically swapped out all of their old pieces with new pieces — a new owner (Josh Harris), new general manager (Adam Peters) and new head coach (Dan Quinn).
The Commanders can lay the foundation for the future in the 2024 NFL draft with six picks in the first three rounds — the most in the NFL — and nine picks overall.
The most important of those picks will be at No. 2 overall, where they will almost certainly draft a quarterback in the first round for the first time since they selected Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins at No. 15 overall in 2019.
“(Free-agent) signings were overwhelming one-year, low-risk additions designed to boost the overall leadership and team depth,” wrote The Athletic’s Ben Standig. “The real talent bump comes in the draft, where the Commanders have nine selections — six in the top 100, headlined by the No. 2 pick that is expected to turn into a quarterback.
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