This article will not take a deeper look at Athan Kaliakmanis\u2019 nicknames, of which there are several, including \u201cthe Greek Rifle\u201d and \u201cGolden Boy.\u201d Instead, we will focus on what makes the selection of the former Rutgers QB in the seventh round a good decision.<\/p>\n
Following the conclusion of the 2026 NFL draft, there were several analysts that disagreed with this premise, assigning Adam Peters\u2019 final pick an overall \u201cC-\u201d grade.<\/p>\n
Reasons for the poor grade varied, but most of the criticism centered around a perceived lack of need, the opinion that there were better options still available, and that Kaliakmanis\u2019 overall body of work in college was not impressive. Let\u2019s address each item separately.<\/p>\n
The need at the position might not be readily apparent to some as Marcus Mariota returns for a third season to back up Jayden Daniels. Generally viewed as one of the better QB2s in the league, Mariota has seen far more game action<\/a> than most would prefer. In the first season, Marcus proved his worth early, taking over for an injured Daniels in the team\u2019s matchup versus the Carolina Panthers and skillfully leading the team to a 40-7 victory. More importantly, he came into the last game of the season to guide the team in a comeback win versus the Cowboys and clinched the 6th seed in the NFC playoffs for the Commanders with a last-second throw to Terry McLaurin. Things started to unravel when Mariota was pressed into service the second half of last season, starting eight games with a 2-6 win-loss record. While the team had already been decimated by injuries by the time Mariota started the majority of his games, his play slowly deteriorated over the course of the season, and Marcus\u2019 decision-making in London\u2019s Miami game was questionable.<\/p>\n Turning 33 years old in October and still commanding one of the highest<\/a> backup quarterback salaries in the league, Washington may look to go in another direction in 2027. While another veteran is always an option, a younger player with potential to grow along with David Blough would be preferable. The Commanders coaching staff signaled that Sam Hartman was not that player when they opted to go with Josh Johnson at the end of the season. So what makes Athan the choice over other options that were available at the tail end of the draft, including Garrett Nussmeier or Haynes King?<\/p>\n Kaliakmanis doesn\u2019t distinguish himself in the size or athleticism categories, with okay to good ratings in most categories and a poor one for speed.<\/p>\n Athan certainly doesn\u2019t have the mobility of a Haynes King (RAS 9.61<\/a>) or the arm of Nussmeier, and his performance under pressure is a work in progress. He does have demonstrated rhythm and timing with a quick release along with the ability to challenge all three levels of defense, which makes him a good fit for David Blough\u2019s proposed offense. The arm strength might not be elite, but Kaliakmanis throws an extremely accurate deep ball with a nice trajectory to match his wide receivers downfield.<\/p>\n His accuracy is inconsistent, as is his ball placement, so what made the Washington Commanders invest a draft pick in him over other options? Potential. Specifically, potential at the most important position in the game.<\/p>\n Athan doesn\u2019t have the college resume of a Garret Nussmeier or the playmaking ability of Haynes King, but what he does have is untapped potential. Kaliakmanis wasn\u2019t even a starter at Minnesota until his third year in college, but he demonstrated a decidedly linear progression after transferring to Rutgers. His decision-making, production, and even his arm strength increased exponentially. Athan\u2019s completion rate<\/a> jumped from 53.9% in 2024 to 62.2% in 2025, a significant leap that coincided with 20 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. His PFSN College QB Impact score has increased every season, resulting in a career-high 82.2 score in his final campaign.<\/p>\n Passing Table Season Team Conf Class Pos G Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Y\/A AY\/A Y\/C Y\/G Rate Awards 2022<\/a>* Minnesota<\/a> Big Ten<\/a> FR QB 11 60 111 54.1 946 3 2.7 4 3.6 8.5 7.44 15.8 86.0 127.4 2023<\/a>* Minnesota<\/a> Big Ten<\/a> SO QB 12 156 294 53.1 1838 14 4.8 9 3.1 6.3 5.83 11.8 153.2 115.2 2024<\/a>* Rutgers<\/a> Big Ten<\/a> JR QB 13 213 395 53.9 2696 18 4.6 7 1.8 6.8 6.94 12.7 207.4 122.8 2025<\/a> Rutgers<\/a> Big Ten<\/a> SR QB 12 229 368 62.2 3124 20 5.4 7 1.9 8.5 8.72 13.6 260.3 147.7 Career 48 658 1168 56.3 8604 55 4.7 27 2.3 7.4 7.27 13.1 179.3 129.1 Minnesota (2 Yrs) 23 216 405 53.3 2784 17 4.2 13 3.2 6.9 6.27 12.9 121.0 118.5 Rutgers (2 Yrs) 25 442 763 57.9 5820 38 5.0 14 1.8 7.6 7.80 13.2 232.8 134.8 <\/p>\n The intangibles are there as well. Kaliakmanis has a high football IQ and understanding of the game and called his own pass protections on the field. He has the ability to go through full-field progressions if given the necessary time. Athan is considered a plus culture fit, and the Commanders decided to bring him in for a Top 30 visit<\/a>. That is where he sold the staff on his intangibles, coachability, and potential upside. In fact, he was the team\u2019s third three-voter caucus pick<\/a> by the Commanders\u2019 war room. There was enough there that, with Kaliakmanis visiting six teams<\/a> in the last eight days before the draft, the team decided not to risk losing him in the scrum for undrafted free agents. Why did the Washington Commanders draft Athan Kaliakmanis? As Adam Peters explained to him following the selection, the quarterback had convinced them there was no other choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article will not take a deeper look at Athan Kaliakmanis\u2019 nicknames, of which there are several, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99,109478],"class_list":["post-773891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports","tag-washington-commanders-roster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}