The Washington Commanders have selected quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis with the 223rd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Kaliakmanis, who spent his final two seasons at Rutgers but began his college career at Minnesota, completed 658 pass attempts for 8,604 yards with 55 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He also added 459 yards and 10 touchdowns on 296 attempts.
"Kaliakmanis let it loose as a senior, showing better base mechanics and a more dialed-in downfield touch (28 completions of 20-plus yards in 2025, one behind Indiana's Fernando Mendoza)," The Athletic's Dane Brugler wrote in "The Beast." "His accuracy and pocket presence also looked different for much of 2025, although that wasn't the case against better opponents on the schedule (Oregon, Ohio State)."
Kaliakmanis started 42 games in his college career. He one of 13 players to reach 3,000 passing yards and one of six to reach 5,000 passing yards for Rutgers and became the first player in program history to compile 2,500 passing yards in back-to-back seasons since 2007-08.
The Commanders have been looking for an answer at the third quarterback spot on their roster behind Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota. The latter is in the second half of his career, so whoever emerges as the third player on the depth chart could eventually be the primary backup. Kaliakmanis is a long-term project but has the tools to eventually be a quality depth player at some point.
