Commanders host unheralded Texas Tech defender on pre-draft visit

The Texas Tech Red Raiders had a defense to remember in 2025. That side of the ball carried the Red Raiders into the College Football Playoff before an ineffective offense ended any chance at the national championship. While everyone knows about All-Americans David Bailey, Jacob Rodriguez and Lee Hunter, Texas Tech featured other great players, too.

One of those players was defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard. Gill-Howard was a 6-foot-1, 280-pound defensive tackle prospect who began his college career at Upper Iowa before transferring to Eastern Illinois and finishing up at Texas Tech. In his only season for the Red Raiders, Gill-Howard started the first six games at defensive tackle, recording 13 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

Gill-Howard hasn't received the same attention from NFL scouts as his more famous teammates, but teams do like him. Tanner Phifer of XPAND Sports recently revealed that the Washington Commanders hosted Gill-Howard on a top-30 visit. This visit hasn't been confirmed by Washington, which held a group top-30 event earlier this week at Topgolf in Ashburn, which featured several top prospects, such as Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs and others.

Washington's interest in Gill-Howard is interesting, considering his size and Relative Athletic Score. GM Adam Peters often targets players with a high RAS score, but Gill-Howard has a 5.61 score. That number is so low due to his size.

Why would Washington be looking to draft an undersized defensive tackle if it plans on employing more 3-4 fronts? That's a fair question. But, remember, the Commanders also hosted undersized Navy star defensive tackle Landon Robinson in a private workout — not a top-30 visit.