Jim Nagy is the executive director of the Senior Bowl, so he saw three of the Commanders’ 2023 Draft picks in action at this year’s event. He gave Grant & Danny a bit of a breakdown on those players on Friday’s show, which you can listen to below – and here’s a little sneak preview:
On the draft class overall: “They’ve drafted a bunch of good players! I’ve been on the phone with some guys in the front office talking about some of these guys; Quan Martin, K.J. Henry, and Chris Rodriguez were all our guys, Braeden Daniels was committed before he got injured, and we evaluated Ricky Stromberg but didn’t invite him.”
On Quan Martin: “You hope anyone you draft in the first three rounds gets on the field, and he’s easy because you can plug him inti a lot of different spots. He has a lot of range at free safety, can do some nice things inside at nickel corner, and with that speed, you could probably play him outside in a pinch. He was one of the top guys in the draft, not just at DB, in terms of positional versatility.”
On Chris Rodriguez Jr.: “Maybe your fans have heard this, but Chris lost his mom a couple weeks before Senior Bowl, so the fact he even showed up to Mobile ready to compete speaks volumes of Chris and what he’s made of. Love his character. On the field, he runs really hard, and I think that pick speaks to what Coach Rivera wants as an offensive identity. Chris is a little different athlete than Brian Robinson, but they’re the same downhill tough guy, the type of guy you want late in the year. Not all sixth-round picks hit, but I think this one will for the Commanders.”
On K.J. Henry: “He’s going to be a fan favorite and media favorite. He’s a product of that Clemson culture, they do a great job of making their guys grow up. The common theme on that team is that they had a bunch of talented guys who were bit by the injury bug and needed to have good years, and K.J. did that. He’s long, he can run, and he plays so hard – there’s some overachiever to K.J. Henry. He’s got his stuff together, and to me, I love when you can find a guy who is talented but also has that overachiever mindset.
Another really good value pick to me.”
On not inviting Ricky Stromberg: “Sometimes we make mistakes too, and when we evaluated Ricky in the fall, we didn’t see him going in the third round. He’s a center only, and if you’re going to be a center only, you better be a starting-level center, and I didn’t see that on the tape. He’s a really tough guy, and very competitive, and all those things matter – and when you get the test numbers he had, teams are going to like that.”
On Braeden Daniels: “We liked Braeden. We’ve been watching him for a couple years. Legit guard/tackle flexibility, could see him playing both spots honestly. He can play both guards and right tackle, and we projected him as a starter-level player.”
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