Washington Commanders enter 2026 NFL draft with No. 7 pick, pressing needs at receiver, corner

The Washington Commanders head into the 2026 NFL draft — which opens Thursday night in Pittsburgh — holding six picks but only two in the first three rounds, a lean haul that puts a premium on hitting early selections.

Washington holds the No. 7 overall pick in Round 1, followed by selections at No. 71 in Round 3, No. 147 in Round 5, No. 187 and No. 209 in Round 6, and No. 223 in Round 7. The Commanders are missing their second- and fourth-round picks, lost in the Laremy Tunsil trade, though they did recoup a sixth-round pick by trading running back Brian Robinson to the San Francisco 49ers.

Despite finishing 5-12 last season, Washington enters the draft with several of its most critical needs already addressed in free agency — but holes remain. The team fortified its receiver depth in the offseason, but still lacks a reliable No. 2 option opposite Terry McLaurin after Alec Pierce and Romeo Doubs signed elsewhere. At cornerback, Washington has only three players under contract who would be considered roster locks, and two of them are around 5-foot-9. The center position is also unsettled: the Commanders released Tyler Biadasz and failed to sign Tyler Linderbaum, leaving Nick Allegretti to compete for the job while the team may look to develop a center later in the draft.

At the top of the first round, several names have emerged as possibilities at No. 7. The Commanders have been connected in mock drafts to running back Jeremiyah Love, wide receiver Carnell Tate and linebacker Sonny Styles. Love rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2025 at Notre Dame and is considered one of the draft’s most explosive playmakers. Styles, the Ohio State linebacker, earned grades of at least 87 from Pro Football Focus in run defense, tackling and coverage, and is the only defensive player with at least 50 tackles to have a miss rate of zero. LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane is another name in play; he recorded 13 passes defended — including 11 pass breakups and two interceptions — and is a D.C.-area native who transferred from Virginia Tech.

Washington hosted more than 20 players at a top-30 visit event in Ashburn, including Arvell Reese, Styles, David Bailey, Rueben Bain Jr., Delane, Love and Tate. The team has also worked out a number of receivers, hosting Tate, Makai Lemon of USC and Omar Cooper Jr. of Indiana, as well as meeting multiple times with Ted Hurst of Georgia State, whom one NFC assistant predicted would be gone before the third round.

General manager Adam Peters has indicated he is open to moving back in the first round if the right offer materializes. Peters said he will be prepared for a trade-back scenario and noted that the condensed eight-minute window between picks this year requires doing more preparation on potential deals ahead of time.

Washington’s defense struggled badly against the run in 2025, finishing 25th in yards per rush allowed, 26th in explosive play rate allowed and 25th in yards before contact allowed per rush. The offense was also inconsistent: Jayden Daniels played in just seven of 17 games in his second season, suffering a knee sprain, a hamstring injury and a dislocated elbow before being shut down for the year. He did not require offseason surgery and is expected to enter 2026 healthy.

With most of their draft capital concentrated in the first round and the back half of the draft, the Commanders need their early picks to count. The third-round selection at No. 71 is seen as particularly important, as it will likely need to address a position of need — and it is hard to project a starter emerging from any of Washington’s later picks.