Could you imagine where the Washington Commanders would be if Christian Darrisaw was playing left tackle? What about if Christian Gonzalez was one of Washington’s starting cornerbacks? Or what if the Commanders had selected wide receiver Chris Olave, lined up opposite Terry McLaurin?
Talking about what could have been is a fruitless exercise. It didn’t happen, and the past is in the past. But it’s easy to look at the Commanders and wonder what their roster would look like if the former regime had made more sensible draft picks.
In 2021, former coach Ron Rivera took raw linebacker Jamin Davis over a potential franchise left tackle (Darrisaw). In 2022, Rivera and company wanted to show everyone how smart they were, so they moved back in the first round, passed on Olave, and added extra picks, but they used the first-round pick on wide receiver Jahan Dotson.
Finally, in 2023, Rivera chose Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes over Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Literally, no one had Forbes ranked ahead of Gonzalez, and many worried that Forbes’ unusually slight frame would be a problem for him in the NFL.
No one will ever forget the video the team released AFTER the draft, showing Rivera driving to the team facility that day knowing Washington was selecting Forbes, regardless of what the rest of the draft board looked like.
It didn’t take long for everyone to realize Rivera missed badly on his first-round picks from 2021-23. We will give Rivera a break for 2020 because everyone thought Chase Young would be a superstar.
While we never know if Washington was close to selecting Darrisaw in 2021 or Olave in 2022, JP Finlay of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., revealed on his radio show Tuesday that there was a “screaming match” on draft day when Gonzalez fell into the Commanders’ lap, but they chose Forbes.
Here’s the audio:
According to @JPFinlayNBCS, there was a “screaming match” on draft day when the #Commanders selected CB Emmanuel Forbes over CB Christian Gonzalez
(H/t:@discoque90, via:@BMitchandFinlay) pic.twitter.com/4tSqs4dcqt
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) February 4, 2025
Finlay didn’t reveal who was for or against selecting Forbes, but we know Rivera had the final say — on everything.
While Gonzalez was injured during his rookie season, he quickly became one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks in 2024. Meanwhile, new Washington general manager Adam Peters released Forbes. But Forbes wasn’t the first former Rivera first-round pick Peters moved on from.
In training camp, the coaching staff saw enough of Dotson to be OK with trading him to a division rival, knowing the Commanders needed help at wide receiver. While the Eagles are great and playing in the Super Bowl, Washington’s new regime correctly assessed Dotson.
And, in October, Washington released Davis after his transition to defensive end/edge rusher didn’t pan out. The Commanders released Forbes in November.
Washington is in good hands these days. Looking back at these three moves, particularly, makes what the Commanders accomplished in 2024 even more remarkable.
But we can’t help but wonder how Washington would approach this offseason if it had a franchise left tackle, a shutdown cornerback, and a legit No. 2 receiver.