We’re less than a month away from the NFL Draft, and mock draft season is in full swing. Most notably, Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks of NFL.com have released their most recent mocks. And Brooks received a lot of backlash for having safety Caleb Downs go to the Washington Commanders at 7th overall rather than cornerback Mansoor Delane.
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Brooks has a fairly tame Top 5 picks of his draft that go according to what we’ve all planned. First overall, he has Fernando Mendoza going to the Las Vegas Raiders. Second, he has the New York Jets selecting edge rusher David Bailey. Then he has Arvelle Reese third to the Arizona Cardinals, Jeremiyah Love fourth to the Tennessee Titans, Sunny Styles fifth to the New York Giants, and Carnell Tate sixth to the Cleveland Browns.
However, Brooks shared that he received some criticism for having Downs go seventh to the Commanders. Mainly because they believe they need cornerback help, and Delane has been heavily linked to them. But Brooks defended his mock, arguing that Downs is the better fit.
“Do you want someone in the middle of the field that can do a bunch of different things? In this scenario, I gave them Downs. Just because I think about Dan Quinn and what they want to do defensively, Downs would be a better fit for what they’re thinking about,” Brooks professed on NFL: Moving The Sticks.
Quinn is a defensive-minded head coach who values having talent on that side of the ball. Downs was once touted as perhaps the best player in the 2026 Draft class. With this in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him select the Ohio State phenom.
But why no cornerback for the Commanders? Well, Brooks likes Delane as a prospect, but doesn’t see him as a Top 10 pick. He thinks that it’s too risky a position for the team to swing for the fences.
“Coming off what didn’t work out for them with Marshawn Lattimore, are you confident that he can step in there and give you what you want in a division with George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb?” Brooks questioned. “You’re talking about AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. You’re talking about Malik Nabers coming back. Are you confident in a one-on-one situation, we’re going to put him on them and feel good about that?”
It may not be something that many fans take into consideration when making mock drafts. This is the idea that teams select players based on how they will perform against their divisional foes.
But Jeremiah supported the logic, revealing some of the draft strategies the Baltimore Ravens had when he worked for their front office.
“When we were looking at pass rushers, it was, ‘Can this guy get Ben Roethlisberger on the ground?’ If he can’t, that’s fine. Like, he can beat a tackle, but if he can’t get Ben on the ground, like he’s not strong enough and long enough. That doesn’t do us any good,” Jeremiah shared.
It even led the NFL Draft expert to make a more profound statement about the Philadelphia Eagles and how they should be approaching each draft.
“If you look at Philadelphia’s defense. Okay, you’ve gotta figure out a way to get Jayden Daniels on the ground, Jaxson Dart on the ground, and then Dak [Prescott]… So, you better have athletic enough ends to be able to get those three athletic quarterbacks… That should be in the discussion when you’re going over these edge guys.”
It most certainly should be in the discussion, and it probably is. After all, the NFC East is chock-full of defensive studs on the line of scrimmage. Guys like Jalen Carter, Dexter Lawrence, Daron Payne, and Quinnen Williams are all rostered in an effort to slow down the athletic freaks at QB in the division.
With this in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Commanders favor Downs over Delane. The former seems like he could be a generational talent at the position, similar to the likes of Kyle Hamilton. Yet, it can sometimes be hard to justify selecting a safety in the Top 10. The last time we saw one go that high was Jamal Adams in 2017. He was drafted 6th overall by the Jets.
