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5 things to know about QB Athan Kaliakmanis
He’s one of the most experienced starters in his class.
The 2026 quarterback class was considered to be a light one. Fortunately, the Commanders are not in the market for a starting quarterback, but in terms of finding a potential backup, there weren’t many options better than Kaliakmanis from an experience standpoint.
Although he didn’t become a full-time starter until later in his career, he has experience in that role dating back to his redshirt freshman year with Minnesota. He started
five games back in 2022, completing 60 of his 111 attempts for 946 yards and three touchdowns.
Kaliakmanis was named Minnesota’s starter heading into the 2023 season, completing 53.1% of his passes for 1,839 yards with 14 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He entered the transfer portal after the season and joined Rutgers, where he became one of the most productive quarterbacks in program history.
Kaliakmanis’ time at Rutgers only spanned two seasons, but he wrapped up his college career as one of the best quarterbacks to ever suit up for the Scarlet Knights.
Kaliakmanis, who was almost immediately named the team’s starter after transferring to the program, led the offense in 25 games from 2024-25. He had 5,820 passing yards, which ranks seventh all-time for the school, to go with 38 passing touchdowns. He also had 442 completions on 763 attempts with 6,045 total yards of offense, all of which rank seventh in their respective categories.
Kaliakmanis put himself on the same level as some of the program’s greatest players with several single-season accolades. He became the first Rutgers quarterback to throw for at least 2,500 yards in back-to-back seasons. He’s one of three quarterbacks to have 200 completions and at least 20 touchdowns in a season. He had six 300-yard games for Rutgers, which ranks fourth for the school.
In total, Kaliakmanis started in 42 of 48 appearances during his college career, which puts him at third among the 10 quarterbacks drafted last weekend behind Carson Beck and Taylen Green.
Commanders Roundtable
Dan Quinn on if Sonny Styles will Green Dot Commanders Defense
Quinn pointed to that again as reason why Styles can be a plus in coverage.
“He’s got the football acumen because of his time at safety that the coverage part of his game is in tact. To see him unleashed in some new ways, that’s going to be something I very much look forward to being a part of,” he added.
Yet the big question will be whether Styles materializes into the ‘green dot’ linebacker on defense as many have viewed. Quinn noted “we’ll certainty consider that” with a chance for Styles do that in practice alongside “a number of guys” as he transitions from college to NFL. The good news is Styles had that experience as a Buckeye as Quinn reiterated, “he is definitely capable of that.”
Commanders Wire
Commanders have done plenty to help Jayden Daniels this offseason
Peters has made numerous personnel decisions this offseason that will help this team. Several moves on the offense, several moves on the defense. Hey, Peters has even ensured competition at kicker in this year’s training camp. All of these moves to make the team deeper, better, and all of that, whether we want to understand that or not, help the team, most importantly, and secondarily, help Daniels.
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders may have found their version of what made the Eagles so dangerous
[The Eagles] defensive prowess…played a significant role in their success. Speed and dynamism were at the forefront, making the Eagles a three-level, sideline-to-sideline obstacle that very few could overcome.
Conversely, the Commanders were old, slow, and predictable defensively last season. They couldn’t stop anybody, and game-planning against them was straightforward. The script has now slipped after an eventful offseason, and Styles will spearhead everything.
Styles and free-agent signing Leo Chenal will give the defensive second level the injection of energy desperately needed alongside Frankie Luvu. The edge rushing room now has Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson, Charles Omenihu, and Joshua Josephs to go alongside Dorance Armstrong Jr. Tim Settle Jr. is a vibrant addition to the defensive front, and Nick Cross is the tone-setting safety Washington hasn’t had since Jeremy Chinn left.
The Commanders won’t be a pushover next season. Jones wants to be creative and aggressive. Peters did his part by enhancing the personnel, so it’ll be fascinating to watch these pieces mold together in the weeks and months ahead.
ESPN
Ben Solak’s 2026 NFL Rookie of the Year predictions: Ranking candidates
Offensive Rookie of the Year
The longer shots
It is certainly possible to win Offensive Rookie of the Year from outside the first round. Recent such winners include Kamara (2017), Dak Prescott (2016) and Eddie Lacy (2013). There isn’t really an easy unifying thread between these late drafted winners (Anquan Boldin! Anthony Thomas! Randy Moss!) save for poor performances from the first-rounders. In this weak 2026 draft class, the window for a middle-round player to emerge is cracked slightly wider. Of course, the RB3 came off the board at No. 91 — the latest RB3 in the common draft era — so that blade cuts both ways.
A few players selected outside of Round 1 who I believe have the best shot to win Rookie of the Year:
Antonio Williams, WR, Commanders: A schematic overhaul is underway in Washington, where the old Kliff Kingsbury college offense has been shed for a Ben Johnson-inspired system that gets under center and hunts explosive plays off play-action. For that offense, which desperately needs a pass catcher opposite Terry McLaurin, the front office handpicked Williams, one of my favorite players in this class. Williams has some Amon-Ra St. Brown to his game since he’s as tough as nails, willing to win downfield throws through contact and slippery in his routes. I would not be surprised if he starts getting more targets than McLaurin by season’s end.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
The favorites
Since 2000, 22 of the 26 winners (85%) have been first-round picks. The four players who didn’t go in the first round were linebackers taken before No. 40, including last year’s winner Carson Schwesinger. (The Browns took Schwesinger at No. 33 to start Day 2, and he was my featured long shot to win the award.)
Thirteen defensive players were selected Thursday: two defensive tackles, five edge rushers, two linebackers (Arvell Reese is a linebacker here since that is what he’ll play with the New York Giants), three cornerbacks and a safety. For as special as Caleb Downs is, a safety has not won Defensive Rookie of the Year this century — they simply aren’t around the ball enough. Downs is a candidate to spend more time in the slot given the needs of Dallas’ defense. I am so tempted to keep him alive on the list, in that I believe he’s a spectacular player … but by the harsh reality of history, he must be cut.
Of those 22 first-rounders who won Defensive Rookie of the Year, 20 were selected in the first half of the first round. Marcus Peters (No. 18 in 2015) bucked the trend with an eight-interception season (two for touchdowns) and was voted to an All-Pro team. Jared Verse (No. 19 in 2024) was the other, but he was drafted in a historic class in which only two defenders went in the first 16 picks. While I won’t exclude the back half of Thursday’s first round altogether as favorites, I will mainly focus on five top-16 selections, excluding Downs.
Sonny Styles, LB, Commanders: Bobby Wagner was a tackle vacuum for the Commanders, but can Styles do the same as he steps into his shoes? It’s a towering task, but Styles also has the DB background and unique frame (6-foot-4, 243 pounds) to make far more plays in the passing game than the average starting linebacker. Riddling out whether Styles can get 100% of the snaps in Week 1, with Frankie Luvu and Leo Chenal also on the depth chart, is the key to defining just how strong of a candidate he is. But the blend of tackle production and pass coverage might be too much for voters to ignore.
Bleacher Report
Making Sense of Every NFL Backfield After 2026 NFL Draft
Commanders
Croskey-Merritt and White will split most of the touches. Ford could spell both of them while Jeremy McNichols remains a valuable pass-blocking asset. Following back-to-back 1,100-plus-yard rushing seasons at Penn State, rookie sixth-rounder Kaytron Allen could become Croskey-Merritt’s primary backup if Ford misses time or is cut before the season.
The Athletic (paywall)
2026 NFL Draft’s best UDFA fits: One undrafted free agent to watch on each roster
Washington Commanders: Chris Hilton Jr., WR, LSU
Hilton (6-0, 188) never had a consistent on-field run in college, as he battled several injuries (meniscus in both knees; ankle; shoulder), but he’s a legit speed presence (4.41 with a 1.57 split at the combine). He runs with tremendous balance and body control — he’s just an extremely raw player.
Others to watch: Drew Stevens, K (Commanders)
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Football Friday Pt2 ft @RealBramW
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Blogging the Boys
Are the Cowboys still over-reliant on ‘building through the draft’?
I looked at the 15 most expensive players on the 2026 Cowboys roster to see how many of the top players joined the Cowboys via free agency or via trade after playing for another NFL team. The metric used is the cash value the team spends on each player to rank the top 15 players because it best represents the team’s investment in each player. Cap hit is just an accounting number that’s easy to manipulate, and average annual contract value often exaggerates the value of a player because it can contain extra or void years that will never be paid out.
Surprisingly, especially given the Cowboys’ relative “signing spree” this offseason, the Cowboys have just six players in their top 15 that arrived in Dallas via trade of free agency.
Here’s an overview of 2026 and an overview of how those numbers have evolved since 2023:
The Cowboys have long considered themselves a draft-and-develop or build-from-within team, and the numbers from 2023 to 2025 seem to bear that out. And this was possible because the Cowboys drafted fairly well in the prior years and could therefore limit their acquisition of external players (at least the expensive kind). But a spotty draft performance since 2023 may have forced their hand in 2026.
- Mazi Smith (1st, ’23) and Trysten Hill (2nd, ‘19) should have been the answer at DT.
- Two second-round pass rushers (Marshawn Kneeland (RIP), ‘24, and Sam Williams, ‘22) should have been the answer at DE.
- Marist Liufau (3rd, ‘24) and Shemar James (5th, ‘25) should have been the answer at linebacker – and still might be, though the odds are getting longer and longer.
In fairness though, an increase from four to six external guys doesn’t seem that big of a deal. But are six players a high or a low number relative to the rest of the NFL? To find out, I repeated the exercise for the three other NFC East teams to get a feel for how they compare to the Cowboys.
The Eagles have a similar roster structure to the Cowboys with six players added via FA/trade in the Top 15, while the Giants (10) and Commanders (11), whether by choice or by chance, have both built rosters that rely heavily on external player acquisition. This can be a viable option of course, as it doesn’t say anywhere in the NFL rule book that you have to build through the draft.
In fact, when we look at the last two Super Bowl participants, they both share a similar, free-agent heavy roster, each with a double-digit number of players acquired externally.
As Cowboys fans, we are naturally inclined to say that whatever the Cowboys are doing is the best, and certainly better than whatever it is the Giants or Commanders are doing. But that may be a little shortsighted in this case.
Even with the constraints of the salary cap, it is possible to build a team entirely out of free agents, and there’s no reason to think adding free agents to your team is a bad thing.
An often mentioned downside to this approach is that free agent acquisitions share one defining characteristic: their old team did not want to re-sign them, at least not for the price the player demanded. But that didn’t stop the Seahawks and Patriots from making the Super Bowl and may just be one lazy argument that’s been bandied around since the introduction of the salary cap and hasn’t gotten any better over that time.
In fact, the discussion should probably not be about either drafting or free agency, but about the best way to combine both.
Get it right in the draft and you have a leg up on your competitors. Get it right in free agency as well and you may have a championship-caliber team.
NFL.com
Dee Winters ‘surprised’ by trade from 49ers to Cowboys: ‘I wasn’t expecting it at all’
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was surprised quite a bit,” the former TCU Horned Frog said Thursday of the news, via the Cowboys’ official team website. “I definitely didn’t have any plans on being traded. But everything happens for a reason, I’m excited that I’m back home and I get to play for the Dallas Cowboys.”
The Cowboys got Winters for a fifth-round pick to help secure the middle of the defense. After he was a backup for his first two years in San Francisco, injuries opened the door for Winters to take a step forward in 2025. He started 17 games for the Niners, generating 101 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five passes defensed and earned a pick-six.
There were some wobbly moments for Winters, but all in all, he filled in well following Fred Warner‘s injury. The 25-year-old said the learning experience will help him immensely moving forward.
Pro Football Talk
Giants decline fifth-year option for CB Deonte Banks
Giants cornerback Deonte Banks is now set to become a free agent next spring.
Via Jordan Raanan of ESPN, New York declined Banks’ fifth-year option, setting up 2026 to be the final year of his rookie contract.
The Giants selected Banks with the No. 24 overall pick of the 2023 draft. He’s appeared in 45 games with 35 starts, recording 28 total passes defensed with two interceptions. He has not recorded a pick since his rookie year.
If the Giants had elected to pick up Banks’ option, they would have owed him $12.633 million guaranteed in 2027.
Banks is set to earn $2.6 million in base salary for 2026.
NFL league links
Articles
ESPN
Colts declining Richardson’s fifth-year option for ’27
The Colts will not pick up the fifth-year team option on quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr.’s rookie contract for the 2027 season, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Friday was the deadline for NFL teams to exercise the fifth-year options on 2023 first-round selections. With the Colts declining to do so, as expected, Richardson, the fourth pick in 2023, will hit unrestricted free agency after the 2026 season. Exercising Richardson’s option would have come with a guaranteed salary of more than $22 million.
The decision adds uncertainty to Richardson’s future with the club. Named the starting quarterback just two weeks into his first training camp, Richardson requested a trade in February and was granted permission to speak with other teams about a potential deal.
The Athletic (paywall)
Russell Wilson in talks to go into TV, with CBS the favorite: Sources
Russell Wilson is in deep discussions to go into television, which could mark the end of what is likely a Hall of Fame career as an NFL quarterback, sources briefed on the talks told The Athletic.
“The NFL Today,” CBS’ Sunday pregame show, is considered the favorite as the two sides have had lengthy talks, the sources said. Wilson, 37, recently had a visit with the New York Jets about the possibility of backing up Geno Smith.
If the CBS deal is finalized, Wilson will fill the spot vacated by Matt Ryan. Ryan left CBS to become president of football for the Atlanta Falcons. The rest of CBS’ crew is host James Brown and analysts Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher.
CBS declined comment.
CBS has also shown some interest in Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, according to sources briefed on the talks. Kuechly retired six years ago and has dipped his toes in national work, while also being the radio analyst on Carolina Panthers games.
Earlier this offseason, NBC made the flashiest on-air hire in adding former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to its “Football Night in America” studio show.
Discussion topics
SB Nation
Rookies who can become instant stars
Makai Lemon, WR, USC, Philadelphia Eagles — 1st round, 20th overall
When the dust settles, I think the Dallas Cowboys are going to seriously regret getting two fourth-round picks in exchange for giving the Eagles their future top weapon in Makai Lemon.
Obviously, the writing is on the wall for A.J. Brown’s time in Philly, but this is an extremely rare case where I look at this team and think they’re going to be absolutely fine — potentially even scarier when Lemon gets up to NFL speed. That’s not a knock on Brown, but more a realization that a change in receiver skillsets can be additive to the Eagles’ passing offense.
It goes without saying that DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown have been great, but it’s been more duplicative than anything. Both have similar skill sets, with crisp route running and amazing hands, but neither is really a YAC beast. Smith and Brown averaged around 3.0 yards after the catch last season, which is fine when you’re consistent — but Lemon is an absolute YAC MONSTER. He is going to be able to line up in the slot, split out wide, or operate out of trips and give this team another level to its passing offense.
What we’re going to see is another layer of the Eagles’ passing game get opened up because of Lemon, and I think he’s landing in the perfect spot to really make noise.
