The Commanders have added a fourth player to their quatrerback room in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL draft.
With the 223rd overall pick, Washington selected Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.
The Commanders have their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels and their veteran backup in Marcus Mariota, so Kaliakmanis will likely compete with Sam Hartman for the third-string job.
Kalkiakmanis spent five years in the Big Ten. He started 17 games for Minnesota before transferring to Rutgers in 2024 and starting every game for the Scarlet Knights in 2024 and 2025. He finished his college career with unimpressive statistics -- 55.8 percent completion rate with 55 touchdowns and 27 interceptions -- but he showed flashes of talent, and the Commanders thought he showed enough to be worth a seventh-round pick, and worth a look this offseason to see if he can earn a third-string job.
49ers General Manager John Lynch said before the draft that he’s had discussions with teams about a potential trade involving wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and that he believes there’s “a chance” that a deal comes together.
The Commanders reportedly hope that’s not the case. Lynch said after the season that it was safe to say Aiyuk has played his final snap for the Niners and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Commanders have “significant interest” in signing Aiyuk if the 49ers release him.
The 49ers are less likely to do that as long as they think the Commanders might pivot to making an offer and they voided the remaining guarantees on Aiyuk’s contract, so there’s no particular time pressure for them to make a move at this point in the calendar.
Washington has frequently been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Aiyuk. He and quarterback Jayden Daniels were teammates at Arizona State and the team has space for a complement to Terry McLaurin in their receiving corps. They drafted wideout Antonio Williams in the third round on Friday and also have Treylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, Dyami Brown, Van Jefferson, and Jaylin Lane at the moment.
Another Ohio State defensive player was draft. And another member of the Styles family.
With pick No. 172 in round five, the Saints selected defensive back Lorenzo Styles Jr. He’s the brother of Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles.
Sonny was picked seventh overall by the Commanders.
Lorenzo Jr., who spent two years at Notre Dame before transferring to Ohio State in 2023, is the older of the two, at 23. Sonny is 21.
Their father, Lorenzo, split the difference as a third-round pick (77th overall) in 1995. He spent two years with the Falcons and three with the Rams. In St. Louis, Lorenzo Sr. was a member of the Super Bowl XXXIV championship team.
The Commanders went from a run to the NFC Championship Game in to a 5-12 record in 2025 and they used the seventh overall pick on a player they hope can help them turn things back around.
Linebacker Sonny Styles is that choice. Styles became the third Ohio State product to go in the last four picks as his college teammates Carnell Tate and Arvell Reese went at No. 4 and No. 5.
It’s the first time that the school has had three of the first seven picks in a draft.
Styles was a star at the Scouting Combine by running the fastest 40, highest vertical leap and longest broad jump of any linebacker in the draft class. That came after Styles spent three years as a starter for the Buckeyes and led the team in tackles during his final collegiate season.
The Commanders do not have a second-round pick, so their next scheduled selection is at No. 71.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said this week that he expects a lot of trades in the first round of next week’s draft, but any dealing may not include the Commanders.
Washington has the No. 7 pick and their GM Adam Peters discussed the possibility of making a deal that would change that spot during his own press conference on Thursday. Peters said he believes there are a number of defensive players that “can help impact us in a real positive way” and that he expects to be selecting someone rather than making a trade in any direction.
“I would say more likely than not that would happen,” Peters said, via the team’s website. “You never know. It’ll depend on who’s on the board.”
One reason to make a trade down would be to add to the six picks that the Commanders currently have at their disposal, but adding a high-end player with an early pick is the one silver lining of a rough season and it sounds like that may be too tempting for Peters to pass up.
