With their nine NFL Draft selections, the Washington Commanders secured nine position positions, guaranteeing that they would be able to place as many new players in key roles as possible.
Although many had anticipated that the Commanders would select a left tackle early in the draft, they made significant progress in rebuilding the core of their roster for 2024 and beyond.
The cornerback position was one that Washington neglected to address in the draft. Although general manager Adam Peters acquired two defensive backs over the weekend, Ben Standig of The Athletic stated in a recent Locked On Commanders episode and in an article for the well-known sports new site that the team’s primary need may still lie there. Neither of them is expected to play a significant role on the perimeter.
“They have Emmanuel Forbes and they have Benjamin St-Juste, they have Mike Davis who they signed in free agency, they have (Mike) Sainristil who they just drafted, and then you’ve got your Christian Holmes’s of the world,” Standig stated. “For me, the main question is how much these men will get better under the new coaching staff? I believe I actually do give the secondary a little leeway due of the coaching situation, even though Forbes clearly had a tremendously difficult rookie season and St-Juste at best plateaued, if not somewhat deteriorated.”
In 2022 St-Juste started the year as a nickel cornerback playing inside while veterans Kendall Fuller and William Jackson III manned the outside spots. After Jackson was benched and subsequently traded, however, St-Juste moved outside where most felt he best fit defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s system and showed tremendous growth.
The Commanders promoted assistant defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer to replace defensive backs coach Chris Harris, who left in the 2023 offseason to take a position with the Tennessee Titans as their cornerbacks coach and coordinator of the passing game.
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