It’s time for another Commanders’ rookie minicamp.
With the weather not permitting, the Commanders altered their plans to be indoors on Friday, and Saturday will provide access for the local press.
Every single year, the fan base gets overly excited about a few of the undrafted rookies. However, what would be more reasonable and realistic is to remind ourselves that each year, some of these guys, though they may work hard at minicamp, won’t even be invited back to training camp. It’s simply the nature of the beast that is the NFL.
There are good reasons why some of these guys were not drafted. But yes, there are also a few who perhaps could have been drafted in the latter rounds, and they will prove themselves deserving of a second, closer look in training camp.
It is also worth noting that the 2024 Commanders had two undrafted players who impressed enough in training camp and the preseason that they earned a spot on the Commanders’ 53-man roster. Those two were safety Tyler Owens and tight end Colson Yankoff.
In addition, it should be mentioned that both Owens and Yankoff excelled in preseason games on special teams. Undrafted players can’t afford to be selective about what they prefer to do. If they are going to make an NFL roster in their rookie season, they will need to exhibit the desire and courage to play hard on special teams.
Again, most undrafted players in every NFL franchise’s history do not make it to opening day of an NFL season. It’s simply the number of roster spots available and the reality of just how difficult it is to make an NFL 53-man roster.
Yet, have there been a few exceptions over the years in Washington? Even more, have there been a few exceptional exceptions who were undrafted, and had tremendously successful NFL careers as Redskins? Yes, and some of those were London Fletcher, Lorenzo Alexander, Joe Jacoby, Mark Murphy, Jeff Bostic, Neil Olkewicz and Terry Hermeling.
Wouldn’t it be great if Dan Quinn and Adam Peters could find two this year as they did last year in Yankoff and Owens?
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