The

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

are a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

franchise based in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. They are members of the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

division in the

National Football Conference The National Football Conference (NFC) is a conference of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each h ...

(NFC) of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). The Commanders were founded in as the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Braves, named after the local baseball franchise. The franchise changed its name the following year to the Redskins and moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in . In , the team retired the Redskins name after longstanding controversies surrounding it and briefly played as the Washington Football Team before becoming the Commanders in . Washington's first draft selection was

Riley Smith Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series '' 24'', ''Joan of Arcadia'', '' 90210'', ''True Blood'' and '' The Messengers'', and starring roles on the ...

, a blocking back from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, in 1936. Washington have selected a draft's first overall pick twice: Harry Gilmer in 1948 and

Ernie Davis Ernest R. Davis (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963) was an American college football player who was a halfback for the Syracuse Orangemen who won the Heisman Trophy in 1961. He was the award's first black recipient. Davis was selected firs ...

in 1962. Five eventual Hall of Famers were selected by Washington in the first round: Champ Bailey,

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the TCU Horne ...

Darrell Green Darrell Ray Green (born February 15, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Considered to be one of the greatest cornerbac ...

, Art Monk, and

Charley Taylor Charles Robert Taylor (September 28, 1941 – February 19, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college foot ...

. Three first-round picks by the team have been named NFL Rookie of the Year: halfback Charley Taylor in 1964, quarterback

Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He ...

in 2012 and defensive end Chase Young in 2020. Two Washington first-round draft picks have died during their active careers. The first was Davis, who was traded shortly after the selection to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

for Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Jackson and died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

before ever playing in an NFL game. The other was

Sean Taylor Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American professional football safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the Red ...

, who the team selected fifth overall in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and was fatally shot at home while rehabbing from an injury in November 2007.

Player selections

Footnotes

References

;General * * * * * * * * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Commanders first-round draft picks

first-round draft picks *first-round draft picks