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Identifying the Top 4 NFL Draft Needs for the Washington Commanders

Published

2 years ago

April 22, 2024

Identifying the Top 4 NFL Draft Needs for the Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders have one major need on their roster entering NFL Draft week, and that of course is at the quarterback position.

So while we sit down to identify the four biggest needs for the Commanders to address this weekend, we’re going to skip over that one to get four groups that are not talked about nearly as much these days.

And we’re starting with the biggest need for new head coach Dan Quinn and his Washington squad, an offensive tackle.

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NEED NO. 1 – OFFENSIVE TACKLE

They’re not the sexiest picks ever but if you get them right your quarterback will look the part plenty for both of them.

Tackles and quarterbacks are connected directly because if one doesn’t do his job efficiently on a given snap the results could be disastrous.

For the Commanders this means looking at the duo of left tackle Cornelius Lucas and right tackle Andrew Wylie and realizing there’s at worst a need to find a longterm option at each position.

The bigger need here appears to be at left tackle and even if Lucas is starting next season it needs to be because he beat out a relatively high draft pick to do it.

NEED NO. 2 – GUARD

So we’re not traveling very far for this one, and even though Washington did some solid work bringing in Nick Allegretti from the champion Kansas City Chiefs, he said himself he came here for an opportunity to win a starting job.

You can’t win something that isn’t fought over and while Chris Paul might provide Allegretti a solid fight by himself this new Commanders leadership group would be wise to look out for another potential combatant to add to the mix on Day 2 or 3.

NEED NO. 3 – CORNERBACK

Benjamin St-Juste appeared to take a step backwards last year, either due to injury or drop in coaching ability around him, and rookie Emmanuel Forbes looked lost for much of his rookie season.

Again, the same ailments that impacted St-Juste may have very well impacted Forbes, but the bottom line is neither looked the part of reliable shutdown corner in 2023 and that fact leaves the door open for a new addition to the room, possibly coming in the top 100 picks.

NEED NO. 4 – PASS RUSHER

Something tells us the term edge will apply to both defensive ends and outside linebacker types this year in Washington.

Certainly the same player might be doing a little of both, but there’s a real possibility this team employs each type of player for the job of rushing opposing quarterbacks off the edge this season.

Honestly, the Commanders are in a position where any group they don’t address with a draft pick will be pointed at as a potential flaw, but it’s unlikely every group gets added to via draft pick.

And just because a need exists, if the right talent isn’t there to match it, there may not be a selection made.

Washington has done a good job of giving itself the chance to be as flexible as possible in this year’s NFL Draft, but some things remain in need of addressing, and these four group should be at the top of the list if the right player presents himself at the right selection.

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Washington

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

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Washington

Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

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Washington

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

Press Room

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

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