NFL insider thinks Commanders will lean defense with first-round pick
Regardless of which direction they go, the Commanders are in a good spot.
The Washington Commanders made several free agent acquisitions on defense; did they do enough? Well, seeing the Commanders ' defense surrendered more yards than any other team in the 2025 season, how could they not still be looking for key defensive help? Consequently, though the vast majority of the projections have the Commanders taking Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love at No.
7 in the first round, next Thursday night, don't be surprised if they still go defense. On Friday, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network agreed with this thinking as well, regarding the Commanders going defense. Understandably so, the Commanders were 32nd in surrendering yardage.
We know their free agent signings will bring them some improvement. Yet, how much improvement is required to move up from 32nd to, say, 16th? Can anyone at this point even foresee how much better the defense will be?
"So much of the focus in the offseason was doing that (improving/getting younger) on defense," declared Rapoport. "Last year's defense was (pause) not what you were looking for. They ended up making a ton of staff changes.