Top 30 prospect visits tease Commanders’ draft pick interests

April 5 was a particularly busy day for the Washington Commanders. At the team’s facility in Ashburn, five draft prospects came in to visit. There was Braeden Daniels, the guard from Utah who is projected to go in the fourth or fifth round. Stanford wideout Brycen Tremayne, Tulane linebacker Dorian Williams and Texas A&M running back Devon Achane stopped by, too. And the most notable player to be interviewed that day was Michigan cornerback D.J. Turner, a candidate to go in the second round. 

But not all of those players are necessarily who the Commanders are interested in.

The NFL draft finally begins Thursday after months, if not years, of information gathering by each club. Part of that process includes the Top 30 visit, which allows teams to bring in up to 30 draft-eligible players to their facilities for further interviews, medical exams and other inquiries. The visits can be shrouded in secrecy because teams are hesitant to let other rival clubs who they are interested in. Or sometimes teams will bring in prospects who they have no interest in as a way to throw others off their scent, former Chicago Bears scouting director Greg Gabriel wrote recently for SB Nation. 

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Still, is there a correlation between who teams bring in and what players they end up drafting? There may be no definitive answer as it varies from team to team and year to year. But as it relates to the Washington Commanders? Well, coach Ron Rivera and Co. ended up drafting two of the players they brought in for Top 30 visits last year: Running back Brian Robinson and guard Chris Paul, according to a list of the team’s 2022 visits obtained by The Washington Times.

A sample size of one draft is admittedly too small to make any sweeping conclusions. Teams, also speak with hundreds of prospects over the course of college pro days, the scouting combine and other events like the Senior Bowl. But it should be noted that last year was the first time that Top 30 visits had started up again since Rivera was hired by Washington in 2020. 

Over his first two years, the visits were shelved because of the pandemic as the NFL mandated teams conduct virtual interviews with prospects instead. 

At a predraft press conference last week, general manager Martin Mayhew said there are a “variety of reasons” players are brought in. Some, he said, are brought in so coaches can dive through the Xs and Os to test their football knowledge. Others are brought in because the team is concerned about a topic and “you wanna talk through that stuff.” Sometimes, it’s as simple as the Commanders hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with the player until now, so it’s worth bringing him in.

Coach Ron Rivera then had something else to add.

“Some guys we didn’t bring in,” he said, “because we don’t want you to know about them.” 

Take Jahan Dotson — the Commanders’ first-round pick last year — as an example of that. The wide receiver expressed surprise on draft night that he landed in Washington since he “hadn’t heard anything” the team was interested in him. He said he had only conducted a virtual interview with then-receivers coach Drew Terrell. 

That said, here are plenty of interesting nuggets of information to be gleaned from who Washington brought in last year for a visit. Though Dotson was a surprise, the list showed they were exploring that year’s group of receivers. The Commanders brought in Drake London, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave for visits. London (No. 8 to the Falcons) and Wilson (No. 10 to the Jets) were off the board by the time Washington was on the clock at No. 11, and the team then traded down to No. 16 in a deal with the Saints. 

Last year’s list also arguably indicated what positions were being heavily explored — including those that went under the radar. Of the 30 players who visited, running back (6) was the most common position brought in, followed by safety (5) and defensive tackle (4). Sure enough, the Commanders took a running back (Robinson) in the third round, a defensive tackle in the second (Phidarian Mathis) and a safety (Percy Butler) in the fourth. 

If this follows a similar pattern, then the Commanders are interested in cornerbacks and interior offensive linemen this year. Among the 29 players who visited — one player’s visit, Oklahoma tackle Anton Harrison, fell through — eight were cornerbacks, five were guards and three were centers. The team also met with three tackles: Syracuse’s Matthew Bergeron, Alabama’s Tyler Steen and Tennessee’s Darnell Wright. 

Those positions aren’t a surprise based on the team’s needs. Washington has a glaring hole at cornerback, so it’s no wonder it has met with first-round talents such as Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. (on April 3), Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes (April 6), Devon Witherspoon (April 12), Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez (April 14) and Maryland’s Deonte Banks (April 17). 

Perhaps the visit this year that got the most attention for Washington was when the team hosted Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. The signal-caller is projected to be a first- or second-round pick, and his selection would almost certainly undercut Rivera’s repeated comments that the team believes Sam Howell to be next year’s likely starter. 

Are the Commanders really interested in Hooker? Or was it pre-draft subterfuge in order to entice a team to try and trade up to Washington’s spot at No. 16? 

Rivera said Hooker’s visit was part of the team’s due diligence. 

“You never know,” Rivera said. “Situations and circumstances may dictate something else.”

Here’s a closer look at who the Commanders hosted for Top 30 visits in 2023 and 2022:

2023

DeMarvion Overshwon, linebacker, Texas (visited on March 28) 

Atonio Mafi, guard, LSU (March 28)

Joey Porter Jr., cornerback, Penn State (April 3)

Ben VanSumeren, linebacker, Michigan State (April 3)

Sidy Sow, guard, Eastern Michigan (April 3)

Matthew Bergeron, tackle, Syracuse (April 4)

Brian Branch, safety, Alabama (April 4)

Braeden Daniels, guard, Utah (April 5)

Devon Achane, running back, Texas A&M (April 5)

Brycen Tremayne, wide receiver, Stanford (April 5)

DJ Turner, cornerback, Michigan (April 5)

Dorian Williams, linebacker, Tulane (April 5)

O’Cyrus Torrence, guard, Florida (April 6)

Tyler Steen, tackle, Alabama (April 6)

Emmanuel Forbes, cornerback, Mississippi State (April 6)

Devon Witherspoon, cornerback, Illinois (April 12)

Garrett Williams, cornerback, Syracuse (April 13)

Joe Tippman, center, Wisconsin (April 13)

Darnell Wright, tackle, Tennessee (April 14)

Mason Brooks, center, Ole Miss (April 14) 

Christian Gonzalez, cornerback, Oregon (April 14)

Steve Avila, guard, TCU (April 17)

Terell Smith, cornerback, Minnesota (April 17)

Deonte Banks, cornerback, Maryland (April 17)

Myles Murphy, defensive end, Clemson (April 18)

Hendon Hooker, quarterback, Tennessee (April 18)

Quan Martin, safety, Illinois (April 18)

Ricky Stromberg, center, Arkansas (April 19)

Kyle Soelle, linebacker, Arizona State (April 19) 

2022:

Devonte Wyatt, defensive tackle, Georgia (drafted by Green Bay Packers, 28th overall in Round 1)

Chris Paul, guard, Tulsa (drafted by Washington Commanders, 230th overall in Round 7)

Breece Hall, running back, Iowa State (drafted by New York Jets, 36th overall in Round 2)

Rasheed Walker, tackle, Penn State (drafted by Green Bay Packers, 249th overall in Round 7)

Dax Hill, safety, Michigan (drafted by Cincinnati Bengals, 31st overall in Round 1)

Spencer Burford, tackle, UTSA (drafted by San Francisco 49ers, 134th overall in Round 4) 

Christian Harris, linebacker, Alabama (drafted by Houston Texans, 75th overall in Round 3)

Cam Thomas, defensive end, San Diego State (drafted by Arizona Cardinals, 87th overall in Round 3)

Chris Olave, wide receiver, Ohio State (drafted by New Orleans Saints, 11th overall in Round 1)

Kenneth Walker, running back, Michigan State (drafted by Seattle Seahawks, 41st overall in Round 2)

Jaquan Brisker, safety, Penn State (drafted by Chicago Bears, 48th overall in Round 2)

Luke Goedeke, guard, Central Michigan (drafted by Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 57th overall in Round 2)

Isaiah Spiller, running back, Texas A&M (drafted by Los Angeles Chargers, 123rd overall in Round 3)

Lewis Cine, safety, TCU (drafted by Minnesota Vikings, 32nd overall in Round 1)

Travis Jones, defensive tackle, UConn (drafted by Baltimore Ravens, 76th overall in Round 3)

CJ Verdell, running back, Oregon (undrafted) 

Ty Davis-Price, running back, LSU (drafted by San Francisco 49ers, 93rd overall in Round 3)

Quay Walker, linebacker, Georgia (drafted by Green Bay Packers, 22nd overall in Round 1)

Otito Ogbonnia, defensive tackle, UCLA (drafted by Los Angeles Chargers, 160th overall in Round 5)

Tyler Smith, tackle, Tulsa (drafted by Dallas Cowboys, 24th overall in Round 1)

Kaiir Elam, cornerback, Florida (drafted by Buffalo Bills, 23rd overall in Round 1)

Brian Robinson, running back, Alabama (drafted by Washington Commanders, 98th overall in Round 3) 

Kyle Hamilton, safety, Notre Dame (drafted by Baltimore Ravens, 14th overall in Round 1)

Garrett Wilson, wide receiver, Ohio State (drafted by New York Jets, 10th overall in Round 1)

Micheal Clemons, defensive end, Texas A&M (drafted by New York Jets, 117th overall in Round 4) 

Drake London, wide receiver, USC (drafted by Atlanta Falcons, 8th overall in Round 1)

Curtis Brooks, defensive tackle, Cincinnati (drafted by Indianapolis Colts, 216th overall in Round 6)

Andrew Ogletree, tight end, Youngstown St (drafted by Indianapolis Colts, 192nd overall in Round 6)

Tycen Anderson, safety, Toledo (drafted by Cincinnati Bengals, 166th overall in Round 5)

Ed Ingram, guard, LSU (drafted by Minnesota Vikings, 59th overall in Round 2)