Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN released his latest two-round mock draft Tuesday. Kiper’s newest mock draft featured some significant changes from his last version and includes two trades, one in the top five.
In Kiper’s last mock draft almost three weeks ago, he slotted Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes to the Washington Commanders at No. 16 overall.
In his new mock draft, Kiper has Washington going with Penn State cornerback Joey Porter at No. 16 overall:
The Commanders say they’re not in the market for Lamar Jackson and I don’t see them making a trade up for one of the top quarterbacks in this draft. That means they need to find an instant starter with this selection. While I thought about offensive line — Washington ranked 28th in yards per carry (4.0) last season — signing right tackle Andrew Wylie filled the biggest hole. On the other side of the ball, finding a corner should be the priority. At 6-2 with long arms, Porter would make a lot of sense. He has all the tools to be a spectacular cover man.
What’s interesting here is Kiper has Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright landing in the top 10 with the Chicago Bears. Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson drops all the way to No. 19.
It doesn’t feel like the Commanders would pass on Johnson if he dropped to No. 16.
Kiper didn’t forget about Washington’s need for an offensive tackle. At No. 47 overall, he has the Commanders selecting BYU tackle Blake Freeland.
I mentioned earlier Washington’s need along the offensive line and this could be a selection to find a starter for 2024 and beyond. The 6-8 Freeland could be the swing tackle as a rookie. He started 40 games for the Cougars, playing left tackle, right tackle and right guard. His height gets him into trouble at times — he can struggle with speedy rushers — but he has quick feet.
This is an intriguing pick, for sure. Freeland is huge but is a terrific athlete. He started for four years at BYU, two on the left and two on the right. As Kiper mentioned, Washington could keep Charles Leno Jr. as the left tackle in 2023, with Freeland serving as a swing tackle.
If this scenario played out for the Commanders, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. They’d address two needs with the hope they’d have a true No. 1 cornerback and their left tackle of the future.