I think we can all agree on one thing – Adams Peters hit the ball out of the park with Jayden Daniels. The dynamic passer set rookie records and led Washington on an unprecedented run to the NFC Championship game. His polarizing personality captured the attention of the nation, and it could be argued that he alone put the Commanders back on the map.
Peters and company had nine draft picks in 2024, including six in the top 100. Below I graded the picks based on their first year in the league and handed out my overall grade to Peters and staff for the class of 2024.
Jayden Daniels: Round 1, Pick 2
Stats: 17 games/17 starts – 69% completion percentage, 3568 yards, 25 TD, 9 INT, 891 rush yards, 6 TD
Notes: Daniels was the most exciting rookie in the NFL, and probably the most exciting player in the entire league after week 12 of the regular season. He carried that into the playoffs and had an exceptional two games (Buccaneers and Lions), before ultimately coming back down to earth against the Eagles in the NFC Championship game – one in which he had ZERO help from his team.
Grade: A+
Jer’Zhan Newton: Round 2, Pick 36
Stats: 16 games/11 starts – 44 total tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 FF
Notes: Newton opened the season dealing with a lingering foot injury, but looked to progress as the season went on. He was not a dominating force, but he showed some flashes. He didn’t start in the NFC Championship game despite the team being without Daron Payne due to injury.
Grade: C
Mike Sainristil: Round 2, Pick 50
Stats: 17 games/16 starts – 93 total tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FF, 1 FR, 2 INT, 14 PD
Notes: Mikey was drafted to play the slot but ended up being moved outside due to ineffectiveness of guys such as Benjamin St-Juste, Michael Davis and Emmanuel Forbes (who was outright released). Although outside corner is not his natural position, he fared pretty well, and showed toughness, competitiveness and intelligence. He has a very bright future.
Grade: B+
Ben Sinnott: Round 2, Pick 53
Stats: 17 games/2 starts – 5 REC, 28 yards, 1 TD
Notes: Sinnott struggled to see significant playing time in Kingsbury’s offense, and when he was on the field, he was used primarily as a blocker. The highlight of his rookie season came on a fake punk during the NFC Championship game where he caught a well-thrown pass from Tress Way to keep the drive alive.
Grade: C-
Brandon Coleman: Round 3, Pick 67
Stats: 16 games/12 starts
Notes: Coleman rotated with Cornelius Lucas early in the season but eventually seized the starting role on the left side. His place in the starting lineup wasn’t without struggles however, as he gave up 11 sacks (second highest in the NFL), and blew 5,7% of his pass blocking attempts which tied him for 8th worst in the league. He has some upside, but I don’t think that is at left tackle. He may be best suited to kick inside to guard.
Grade: C
Luke McCaffrey: Round 3, Pick 100
Stats: 17 games/4 starts – 18 REC, 168 yards, 10 kickoff returns, 299 yards
Notes: Although Washington was searching for the majority of the season for a complement to Terry McLaurin, McCaffrey really didn’t make much of an impact in this offense. His best moments came as a kick returner, where he averaged nearly 30 YPR.
Grade: C
Jordan Magee: Round 5, Pick 139
Stats: 8 games/1 start – 9 total tackles
Notes: Magee missed half the season with an injury. He made the majority of his plays on special teams. He’s an athletic linebacker who could have a much larger role in 2025 and beyond.
Grade: C-
Dominique Hampton: Round 5, Pick 161
Stats: 1 game/0 starts
Notes: Hampton played in just one game and saw six special teams snaps. He did not record a stat.
Grade: C-
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: Round 7, Pick 222
Stats: 12 games/1 start – 13 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
Notes: Jean-Baptiste missed some time with an ankle injury that landed him on IR during the middle of the season, but when he did see action, he held his own for a seventh-round rookie.
Grade: C+
Analysis
Jayden Daniels was an obvious slam dunk. He will soon be voted Offensive Rookie of the Year, and we may have just witnessed the greatest rookie season ever by a quarterback in the NFL. He was the heart and soul of this team and Washington has a very bright future with him under center.
The Commanders had six picks within the top 100 of the draft and I don’t think Adam Peters will be lauded for some of those selections. Newton was eased into action to start the season, but his impact throughout games was not really felt. He didn’t even get the start in the NFC Championship Game despite Daron Payne being out. Sainristil, who was forced to play out of position as a rookie, had some real good moments and looks like he will become a heck of a player in the future. It can be argued that Ben Sinnott was a bad reach and was probably taken a full round higher than he should have been.
It was impressive that Brandon Coleman eventually became the starting left tackle as a rookie, but his play was not very good. He struggled against quality edge rushers and showed some serious deficiencies to his game. Now, all rookie offensive tackles usually struggle transitioning to the NFL, so I will cut him some slack here, but his best position in the future may actually be inside at guard. Luke McCaffrey struggled to find his place in the offense, and he was out-snapped and out-preformed by veterans like Brown, Crowder and Zaccheaus. Magee and Hampton saw time on special teams and may become instrumental pieces in 2025.
If I am grading this draft as a whole, I give it a B+, but that grade was largely dependent on the production of Jayden Daniels. Without Daniels having the type of rookie season that he did, I would grade this draft as a C. Now obviously that’s not very fair to say, as quarterback is the most important position on a football team and Peters hit the ball out of the park with the Daniels selection, but I do feel there were some reaches, and some players taken who may not have been the best at a position of need when we were on the clock.
All that being said, I think Peters did an unbelievable job in year one. He was given a roster barren of talent due to the complete dysfunction of the Ron Rivera era, and he turned the roster over and had the team just one win away from the Super Bowl.
The future is bright in D.C. and it’s been a while snice we could say that.