Commanders Reacts Survey: Two key rookie draft picks

Poll questions!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Commanders fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in regular email surveys.

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In this week’s Reacts survey, we’re asking two questions.

Question 1

With the 67th pick in the draft, Washington selected Brandon Coleman, an offensive lineman from TCU. If almost any other NFL team had drafted him, he likely would have been asked to compete for a role as an offensive guard, but the Commanders have been playing him at tackle and giving him reps on both the left and right sides in OTAs, minicamp and training camp.

Reports have been largely positive from camp observers. Here’s one report from earlier this week:

When the Washington Commanders drafted Brandon Coleman in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the idea was at worst, he’d be good depth in 2024 and at best, he’d be a starter from Day 1 and for the foreseeable future.

Coleman certainly has a chance to be a Day 1 starter, as he’s competing with Cornelius Lucas for the starting left tackle spot. Lucas’ early lead is not permanent, whatsoever; a good training camp could certainly turn the tide in Coleman’s favor.

And as it turns out, a nagging injury to Andrew Wylie, the Commanders’ incumbent starter at right tackle, has Coleman recently taking reps with the 1s at right tackle, along with the reps he was initially thought to receive at left tackle.

The extra reps have paid off. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn has been impressed with what he’s seen, so far, and he talked about as much on Monday when he met with the media before the team’s first padded practice of training camp.

“I knew he was a very good athlete, but what I have been more impressed by [is that] he’s got great balance for a big guy,” said Quinn. “He’s got power in his legs… that might be one of the things I didn’t know, was, really one of his strengths. I knew he was a good athlete, and, you know, movements and that. But balance is a harder thing to test. You have to see it. He is very rarely somebody that’s out of position or on the ground. He’s very deliberate in the way he moves and practices. So I think he’s a very in-control player…you never see him overextended or out of position, because when [a lineman does] get beat, usually [he]’s out of position, [and] it’s hard to recover. He has that ability to stay connected to somebody, and that’s one of the things I’ve been impressed by, so far.”

That said, things haven’t been all smooth sailing for the rookie. Reports from camp on Tuesday — after Dan Quinn’s comments quoted above — were much less encouraging.

Today, we ask you to predict whether or not Brandon Coleman will start in the opening week game against the Buccaneers.

Question 2

With the final pick in the 2nd round of April’s draft, the Commanders selected TE Ben Sinnott with the 53rd pick. Sinnott is seen as a ‘do everything’ offensive chess piece with the ability to play tight end, but, at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, he has the size to help as a blocker from the fullback position as well.

Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury likes to use a lot of two tight end sets so adding someone else who can catch was a must. Sinnott has shown he can catch, with 49 receptions for 676 yards and six touchdowns in his final season at Kansas State.

Information coming out of training camp, however, has featured regular reports of dropped passes.

Like Coleman, not all the reports go only one way. The team featured this bad pass from Jayden Daniels/great catch by Ben Sinnott on its website earlier this week:

The Washington front office has clearly bet a lot on Ben Sinnott’s ability to develop quickly and contribute heavily to the Commanders offense starting with his rookie season. Today, we ask you about your level of confidence in the rookie tight end.

Comments & Results

Of course, we invite you to answer the survey questions below, but also feel free to expand on your answers and provide nuance in the comments section. I rely on those comments when discussing the results of the survey when they are posted in a separate article the next few days.

POLL QUESTIONS