There have been times over the past couple of seasons when it seemed as if the Washington Commanders were trying to part company with Chris Rodriguez Jr. He arrived as a sixth-round draft pick in 2023, just as the club was entering the dying days of the Ron Rivera regime. He seemed an odd choice.
The Commanders already had an excellent power back in Brian Robinson Jr., and the common wisdom was that they might want a change of pace back. Perhaps a speedy pass catcher would form a good partnership with the Alabama product. But in Rodriguez, they were drafting another version of what they already had.