Faulk has impressive size, can play in odd or even fronts and is still filling out his frame. The upside trumps the unremarkable 2025 production.

There might be criticism of a team using a top-10 pick on a safety, but this draft class lacks a ton of elite top-end talent at the premium positions. And Commanders coach Dan Quinn needs to tighten up a defense that allowed a league-worst 384.0 yards per game. Downs is a difference-maker in the mold of Derwin James Jr. or Kyle Hamilton who can dictate what an offense is able to do but also be a matchup problem in multiple alignments.

Parker is an explosive, high-motor edge rusher with the juice to both collapse pockets with a bull rush and the bend to win around the corner. He's stout and disciplined against the run, from setting the edge, to blowing up plays in the backfield with his quickness. He shows surprising versatility, with the athleticism to drop into coverage from wide alignments and disrupt passing lanes.

Best Pick: I like second-round corner Trey Amos. He gives a player who can allow them to move Mike Sainristil back inside to nickel. Amos has talent and ability to lock up in man coverage.

Worst Pick: It's not any one pick, but it's trading away picks to land veterans like Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel. That's good for the short term -- and I like the trade for Tunsil more than Samuel -- but it can come back to haunt you later on.

The Skinny: They landed a young offensive tackle with a lot of upside in the first in Josh Conerly He will compete right away to start. With a young quarterback, you can never have enough good linemen. Getting Amos in the second was a nice pick. They didn't have a lot of picks because of trades for veterans, but did a solid job with what they had.

Top needs entering the draft: Edge rusher, cornerback and running back

I gave this team an A- for its 2024 draft haul, and here's a snippet of what I wrote about its class: "If [Jayden] Daniels is a star, this could set the foundation for the Commanders returning to the playoffs -- in a couple of years."Not bad! It took Daniels and Washington only one season to get to the playoffs, though, which ended in the NFC title game. The Commanders were ahead of schedule. Now? The clock is ticking. They have a limited window to put a star-laden team around Daniels before they have to give him a massive contract extension. They need to take advantage of him being on a rookie deal.

You could see that urgency this offseason in trades for wideout Deebo Samuel Sr. and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. Those veterans will make the Commanders better immediately. And with only five total picks, they really had to get a rookie starter in Round 1.

Instead, they might have gotten rookie starters with both of their top picks. I liked the selection of Josh Conerly Jr. at No. 29 -- he played left tackle at Oregon, but I see his immediate future at guard or right tackle. He has the traits to play on the left side, though Tunsil will have that spot locked down for a few years. I thought Washington might go with a corner there, but GM Adam Peters got Trey Amos with his lone Day 2 pick, nearly 20 spots lower than where he was in my rankings (No. 43). Amos will fill a big hole for this defense.

Jaylin Lane is an intriguing Day 3 wideout. At 5-foot-10, he looks like a running back -- and he took some snaps from the backfield in college. If Kliff Kingsbury can figure out how to get the ball in his hands, he has some juice after the catch. He's also the best punt returner in this class.

I liked what Peters did with his first three selections, but this is not quite an A because it's a small class and because he didn't address the hole at edge. Still, this is a team that should again challenge for the NFC East crown.