Insider explains Commanders' unique approach to sorting out draft prospects

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters

Armed with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders are quickly approaching a franchise-altering decision. With the gravity of the selection evident, the team has left no stone unturned when evaluating which player they’ll ultimately choose.

According to insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Commanders brought 22 prospects to Washington, D.C., only a week before the draft. While this might seem like a unique approach, it’s one new general manager Adam Peters learned from his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Not only is bringing such a large group together a more efficient way of gathering information, but it also offers other benefits that one-on-one meetings can’t deliver.

“If you look at the benefit in San Francisco, they’ve had one of the best locker rooms over the past five years,” Breer said on “The Rich Eisen Show,””and I think people who’ve been there would tell you that this whole process they set up out there is a part of the puzzle.”

While the Commanders have cast a wide net, believing they’ll target a quarterback at the second overall pick wouldn’t be a significant leap.

Naturally, USC standout Caleb Williams is not among the 22 prospects meeting with the Commanders, as the expectation is that he’ll hear his name called by the Chicago Bears at No. 1 overall. However, four quarterbacks are in D.C., including LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

So deep into the draft process, there likely isn’t much football information left to learn about this draft’s quarterback prospects. But, as Breer pointed out, how they conduct themselves over the next several days may ultimately help the Commanders make their decision.

“The way they see it is, these four guys, whichever one they pick – I think most people expect it to be Jayden Daniels – are going to have to fit in with their teammates, are going to have to be leaders,” Breer said. “They sort of want to see them in as natural a habitat as they can possibly invent for them. And by doing things this way with their peers, they’re able to see how they interact with other players. They’re able to see who is kind of the head of the group, right?”

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