2026 Road to the Draft – Part 6
February 17, 2026
By Noonefromtampa
Roster – Coaching Staff Updates
The Commanders have reportedly hired Jake Olsen, who was the LSU safeties position coach, to the defensive staff either as a position coach or defensive assistant. The hire and position have not been formally announced by the team as of this writing. Olsen worked with new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones at LSU in 2021. Tress Way re-signed with the team on what is essentially a one-year deal on a seldom used 4-yard qualifying contract. He will get paid a little over $3M in the 2026 season and count only a little under $1.5M against the cap. In terms of games played with Washington, Way currently ranks tied for 5th with 196 games played. The other top 5 players are:
- Darrell Green – 295
- Monte Coleman – 215
- Art Monk – 205
- Dave Butz – 203
- Len Hauss – 196
If Way plays all 17 games this season, he will end up in 3rd place, two games behind Coleman.
Draft Data
With the Super Bowl over and the focus shifting to free agency and the upcoming draft, the number of mocks being tracked rose 24 again to 144 this week. Sixty percent of pick data occurred in last two weeks. The distribution for Washington by position is:
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % | Last Week % | % Change |
| Edge | 66 | 45.83% | 51.67% | -5.83% |
| S | 32 | 22.22% | 22.50% | -0.28% |
| LB | 20 | 13.89% | 10.83% | 3.06% |
| WR | 15 | 10.42% | 9.17% | 1.25% |
| RB | 6 | 4.17% | 4.17% | 0.00% |
| DL | 3 | 2.08% | 1.67% | 0.42% |
| CB | 2 | 1.39% | 0.00% | 1.39% |
| OT | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| QB | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| IOL | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| TE | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| N/A | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Grand Total | 144 | 100% |
The biggest loser this week was the edge position group, with safety also being down slightly. The biggest position group gainers were linebacker, cornerback and wide receiver. Cornerback made a re-appearance on this list after being gone for several weeks, likely due to the fact that Washington hired a former secondary position coach as their new defensive coordinator.
Washington holds the 7th pick in the first round. The players mocked to Washington with that pick are:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| David Bailey | Edge | Texas Tech | 37 | 25.69% |
| Caleb Downs | S | Ohio State | 32 | 22.22% |
| Rueben Bain | Edge | Miami | 22 | 15.28% |
| Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | 11 | 7.64% |
| Arvell Reese | LB | Ohio State | 9 | 6.25% |
| Carnell Tate | WR | Ohio State | 9 | 6.25% |
| Jordyn Tyson | WR | Arizona State | 6 | 4.17% |
| Jeremiyah Love | RB | Notre Dame | 6 | 4.17% |
| Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 5 | 3.47% |
| Peter Woods | DL | Clemson | 2 | 1.39% |
| Mansoor Delane | CB | LSU | 2 | 1.39% |
| Cashius Howell | Edge | Texas A&M | 1 | 0.69% |
| Kayden McDonald | DL | Ohio State | 1 | 0.69% |
| T.J. Parker | Edge | Clemson | 1 | 0.69% |
| Grand Total | 144 | 100.00% |
The big winner here is Sonny Styles, who jumped from 9th place on the list to 4th place passing Arvell Reese for the number 1 linebacker spot. The top 3 players remain the same. Styles’ draft stock has been rising and will probably keep rising during the combine. Mansoor Delane appearing for this first time in a while is probably tied to the Washington coaching hires.
NFL Combine
The NFL Combine will be held in Indianapolis from February 23rd to March 2nd. The televised portion of the of the Combine will be from February 26th to March 1st and appear on the NFL Network. The position group workouts by date are:
- Thursday, February 26 – Placekickers, defensive linemen, and linebackers
- Friday, February 27 – Tight ends, defensive backs
- Saturday, February 28 – Quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs
- Sunday, March 1 – Offensive linemen
List of invitees can be found here:
https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-combine-full-list-of-draft-prospects-invited-to-2026-scouting-event
Draft Thoughts
A number of Commanders fans would like to see the team trade back and pick up extra draft capital. To trade though, there has to be a team willing to trade up into your spot and a player they covert is available.
Are there any teams that might want to trade up with Washington?
Two possibilities could be the Cowboys and the Rams, who hold the 12th and 13th picks in the first round respectively.
The Cowboys need help on defense and may want a premier level talent like Caleb Downs or Mansoor Deland to shore up the defense. The Cowboys lack 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2026, so they probably have to include a 2027 pick, maybe a second rounder and their 4th round pick in 2026 to make a deal happen.
The Rams also need help at cornerback and offensive tackle (think Spencer Fano), and the 7th pick could yield a top player at those positions. The Rams would likely have to give up the 13th pick, their second-round pick (61st pick) and a third-round pick in 2027 since they lack the proper lower round picks in 2026.
In reality any team could desire to trade up for the right player, and these are just two possibilities. Washington would probably not want to move out of the top half of the draft unless the offer was too good to refuse.
Who would Washington be looking at as potential picks in the twelve or thirteen spot in the draft? Some choices could include:
- WR – Makai Lemon
- CB – Jermod McCoy, Avieon Terrell
- Edge – Cashius Howell, Akheem Mesidor
- DL – Peter Woods, Kayden McDonald
Should Washington stand pat or trade back if possible, let us know in the comments section.
Sources: nflmockdraftdatabase.com