The reviews for every NFL team’s 2023 NFL draft continue to come in. The Athletic’s Mike Sando offered a unique perspective on the draft. He spoke with rival executives for multiple franchises to assess each team’s draft haul.
The Commanders selected a pair of defensive backs with their first two picks in Emmanuel Forbes and Jartavius Martin. While the consensus is that both are good players, one executive pointed to Ron Rivera being a defensive head coach with the first two selections.
“They got two guys that have some speed and ball production and should help them in the secondary, but it goes to show you, if I’m looking at it, I’m saying they definitely have a defensive coach.”
The point the executive was attempting to make was that the defense was good last year, and the Commanders are supposedly all-in with Sam Howell as the quarterback for 2023. So, they question if Washington did enough to help Howell.
Another executive followed up:
“Are they building around their quarterback? They look like they are just picking players. It was a good year for corners, and they take a corner in the top 16 picks. Cam Smith goes in the second round. Darius Rush goes near the top of five. Those are guys who can play. I don’t know how much a 165-pound corner moves the needle for a franchise that is going to trot out a first-year quarterback.”
That’s not necessarily a fair criticism. If Washington was just picking players, then, according to this executive, the Commanders should’ve just taken an offensive tackle, even if one wasn’t worth the selection at No. 16, to build around Howell. Simply put, you take the better player, which Washington did.
There’s a dropoff from Forbes to Smith and Rush, obviously. If you are going to criticize Washington for selecting Forbes at No. 16, then where’s the criticism for Seattle picking Devon Witherspoon at No. 5? And the Patriots for taking Christian Gonzalez at No. 17? We are assuming this executive isn’t allowed to criticize Bill Belichick.
If you want to critique Washington for not doing enough to fix the offensive line, that’s absolutely fair criticism. The offensive line remains a question mark for 2023. However, considering where the Commanders picked and who they picked, they took good players and strengthened the weakest position on their defense.