The Commanders are hiring 49ers scout Ryan Kessenich as their new director of college scouting, Neil Stratton of ScoutSpeak reports.
Kessenich is returning to Washington, where he began his scouting career in 2005.
His stint in San Francisco began in 2019, where he and Adam Peters worked together before Peters left to become the Commanders’ General Manager in 2024. Kessenich also worked as a scout for the Chiefs and the Bears and had two stops at Northwestern University, along with one year as a scout for the Senior Bowl, before joining the 49ers.
Kessenich will replace Tim Gribble, who left in January to join the Steelers.
Linebacker Sonny Styles is going to play a big role for the Commanders after being drafted seventh overall and one facet of his role will be determined on the practice field in the coming weeks.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Quinn said that the first-round pick has “unique traits” for a linebacker because he began his time at Ohio State as a defensive back. Quinn said that the “football acumen” will allow the Commanders to use him in a variety of ways that could include relaying the team’s defensive plans as the player with a green dot on his helmet to hear play calls from coaches.
“In practice, we’ll certainly consider that,” Quinn said. “A number of guys will have it during the practice time. He is definitely capable of that. It’s one of the nice things now with the guys already doing that in college.”
Styles’ physical tools suggest he won’t be coming off the field much and that makes him an even likelier choice to wind up as the defensive centerpiece in Washington.
Free agent running back Austin Ekeler is medically cleared for all football activities, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports.
Ekeler, who turns 31 next week, plans to play in 2026.
The nine-year veteran tore his Achilles in Week 2 last season. He had 19 touches for 81 yards in his second season in Washington after seven seasons with the Chargers.
Ekeler appeared in 12 games for Washington in 2024, rushing for 367 yards and four touchdowns on 77 carries, catching 35 passes for 366 yards and averaging 31.3 yards on 19 kickoff returns.
In his career, Ekeler has 1,561 touches for 9,053 yards and 73 touchdowns.
The Washington Commanders announced the death of three-time Super Bowl champ Monte Coleman at 68 on Sunday.
Coleman was an 11th-round pick by the franchise in 1979 and spent his entire 16-year career as a linebacker with the team. Coleman was part of all three championship teams during the Joe Gibbs era and is in the franchise’s Ring of Fame.
“Monte Coleman was one of the greatest players in Washington history,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement. “He was one of the pillars of our championship defenses having played for all three Super Bowl-winning teams. His durability and leadership set the standard for what it meant to suit up for the Burgundy & Gold.”
Coleman became the head coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff after retiring as a player and went 40-71 over 10 seasons in that job.
The NFL draft has set a new attendance record.
The official number for the Pittsburgh road show was 805,000. That breaks the record set by Detroit in 2024, which had 775,000 in attendance.
The total attendance always merits some context, even if the NFL would like to create the impression that 805,000 different people made the pilgrimage to Pittsburgh for the draft. For starters, plenty of people who attended on Thursday attended on Friday. Plenty who attended on Friday attended on Saturday.
Also, each time a person enters the perimeter of the draft area, they’re counted again. Coming and going (which surely happens during the Saturday marathon) pumps up the final number with the same person being counted multiple times the same day.
It’s still an impressive showing. But the official number overstates it. (And it’s OK to point that out, because it’s true.)
The NFL has no reason to not seize on the biggest figure. It creates the impression that the draft is something worth attending, and that anyone who doesn’t is missing out. Which gets more people to decide that, next year, they’d better not miss it again.
The three-day breakdown in Pittsburgh was 320,000, 280,000, and 205,000. If not for rain during the early hours of Saturday’s session, the number surely would have been higher.
The record may not stand for long. The method that leads to the same person being counted multiple times could lead to a million or more next year, when the draft is held on the National Mall in D.C. If there are multiple points of entry and exit, folks who stream in and out throughout the three rounds will keep driving the official tally higher and higher.
