Adam Peters quickly installed a cutthroat demeanor in pursuit of turning the Washington Commanders around. It was a drastic approach, but one the general manager believed was necessary to get things trending in a positive direction after decades of dismay.

If that meant ruffling a few feathers with veteran players, so be it.

His methods bore fruit immediately. Peters’ decision was vindicated, but he’s been keen to keep urgency high within the Commanders this offseason despite head coach Dan Quinn’s squad reaching the NFC Championship game in Year 1 under the new regime.

This was once again evident during the draft. Peters didn’t care about needs. He cared about increasing competition and taking the best prospects available. The Commanders weren’t working with much, so quality over quantity was the name of the game.

That strategy came to fruition once again in Round 6. The Commanders avoided the urge to draft another edge rusher, opting to take a developmental linebacker in the form of Kain Medrano.

Commanders are clearly not interested in edge-rushing help from the draft

A six-year player at UCLA, Medrano is coming off the best campaign of his college career with the Bruins. His production wasn’t jaw-dropping by any stretch, but it represented a marked improvement.

His tackling needs significant work before confidence in his chances increases. What Medrano does have going for him is raw athleticism. That’s possibly what tipped the scales from Peters’ perspective, knowing how Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. can get more out of him with additional refinement.

Medrano tested extremely well during the assessment stage. He’ll likely compete for backup duties with Jordan Magee while potentially carving out a role for himself on special teams. But this did look like a strange one from the outside looking in.

Peters has earned enough trust from fans. He’s not steered the Commanders wrong yet, so there’s a chance Medrano flourishes in a winning environment en route to outperforming his pay grade. Learning from Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu won’t exactly hurt, either.

If not, it didn’t exactly cost the Commanders much to find out for sure.

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