With the second pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders chose LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. On his way to the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, Daniels led a turnaround that landed Washington in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
But Washington hasn’t always drafted as well, as its single playoff berth in the eight seasons before 2024 illustrates.
In 2015, Washington won the NFC East and went to the postseason. But the 2016 NFL Draft did not set up Washington to build on that success, as Jay Gruden, the team’s coach at the time, recalled during a Wednesday appearance on the “Trap or Dive” podcast.
Gruden said Washington’s first- and second-round targets had been two All-Americans from Alabama’s 2015 CFP national-championship team. But the team didn’t get either Ryan Kelly or Derrick Henry.
“With our first pick in the first round that year, we wanted Ryan Kelly, the center,” Gruden said. “We were sure we were going to get him. (General manager) Scott McGloughan was sure: ‘We’re going to get him. Don’t worry about it.’ And right before our pick: ‘The Indianapolis Colts select Ryan Kelly, center from Alabama.’ And Scott McGloughan hit the table: ‘(Expletive).’
“And now we’re on the clock. We’re scouring the board. There’s a couple of D-linemen from Alabama. I think Jarran Reed was up there. A’Shawn Robinson was up there. The receiving corps that year was not very good, if you look at it, other than Michael Thomas at Ohio State, and he was projected lower. There was Josh Doctson, Will Fuller, the kid from Minnesota, I forgot his name.
“I said, ‘What about this big SOB from Alabama? This running back, he’s a monster.’ And they were like, ‘Nah, we got him late second. We’ll be able to get him back then.’ And sure enough, Nashville, the Tennessee Titans took him in the early second, and we didn’t get him.”
The Colts selected Kelly at No. 18 in the 2016 NFL Draft. When its turn came at No. 22, Washington took TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson.
Henry went to Tennessee at No. 45. Washington took Southern Cal outside linebacker Su’a Cravens at No. 53.
Henry and Kelly completed their ninth NFL seasons in 2024. Henry is a five-time Pro Bowler, and Kelly a four-time Pro Bowler.
Doctson played four NFL seasons. In his three seasons with Washington, he had 81 receptions for 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns in 33 games. Su’a played in 11 games in his one season with Washington, and he had only five more games in his NFL career.
Even though Doctson didn’t pan out, Gruden didn’t pan the pick.
“Josh was pretty damn good,” Gruden said. “Josh had a 48-inch vertical. He just couldn’t get right health-wise. … And he was a guy who didn’t get a lot of separation. He really relied on a lot of 50-50 type of balls, and (quarterback) Kirk (Cousins) ain’t throwing that. Kirk’s not throwing it to you unless you’re open, so Josh never really got a chance to excel at his gift, and that’s leaping, jumping, his timing and the back-shoulder stuff. It wasn’t a good pick from a production standpoint, but at that time Josh was a pretty damn good athlete. He just never got the opportunity. He was never really healthy.”
Washington went 8-7-1 in 2016 but missed playoffs. Two 7-9 seasons followed, and Gruden was fired after five years with Washington.
The 2016 draft typified Gruden’s “biggest regret:” “Not being able to construct my own football team.”
“I wish that they would have listened more,” Gruden said. “Not that I would have been right more often, but I put the time in. A lot of coaches that say they want to be more involved in personnel don’t put the time in. I put the time in. I studied all these guys – draft, combine, Senior Bowl, East West Shrine Game. I watched all these guys in the draft. And in free agency, obviously, I studied the hell out of them before we signed and paid them.
“I wish they would have listened more just because when you’re a head coach, you finally get the opportunity to be a head coach, you’d like to put the team together that you want. Not everybody has that luxury, but that’d be a hell of a nice thing. Instead, I get fired, and there’s 18 to 20 guys on the roster I didn’t even want on the team. I didn’t even want them in the city. It’s kind of frustrating in that regard.”
After reaching the NFL’s final four in the 2024 season, the Commanders will make their first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft at No. 29.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.