Javontae Jean-Baptiste tells G&D he was hoping it was Washington that drafted him

Like they did with Luke McCaffrey on Monday, Grant & Danny opened their interview with new Commanders EDGE Javontae Jean-Baptiste by playing the audio of Baptiste’s draft call with GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn.

You may have seen the video, but on Javontae’s end, well, it was the culmination he wanted.

“I’m in Atlanta with my family, everybody’s there, and we had ribs, steak, mac and cheese, yams, beans, pasta salad, it was there,” he said. “I was hoping it was Washington. I had some visits with some other teams, but when I went out to Washington, I just felt the love. The conversation between everyone in the building, I think everything was perfectly fine, and I was like, that's a place I could be. I was sitting there and waiting, like, come on! I felt that they were rocking with me and I'm rocking with them.”

That phone call came late on Saturday, 222 picks into the draft as the second pick in Round 7, finally ending the longest two days of his life.

“I knew I was gonna get gone, but I just didn't know exactly when; it could have been, it could have been middle, could have been late, so I was just sitting there anxious, stomach and knots, just twisting and turning,” he said. “Once I got that call, it was just like the weight of the world was just like off my shoulders. At first I was excited and then it was like I got hit with a whole other emotion of like just like finally achieving something, and the tears came out crazy. I'm on the phone, ugly crying! It was awesome.”

So what are the Commanders getting in the Notre Dame product, who broke out with the Irish after four seasons at Ohio State?

“My best attribute is my motor, man. They're gonna get a player that's gonna play sideline to sideline, someone that's gonna try to fire the guys up and make sure that I'm helping them hold the standard that wants to be in that building,” Jean-Baptiste said. “My strength would kinda be my length, my speed, and my mentality. My weaknesses, I have make sure I'm able to like stay involved in like yoga, Pilates, and stuff like that, so I can gain more mobility and flexibility.”

And speaking of flexibility, his transfer from the Buckeyes to the Irish is something he thinks he can use to his advantage in making the transition to DC and the NFL smoother.

“Going from Ohio State, walking in that building, you got guys like Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Jonathan Cooper, and that's just at the edge; you get to see how they work every day and what they put into their bodies, how they maintain themselves on and off the field and what they're doing when no one's watching. I was able to just learn from those guys and add what they were doing well and try to replicate that myself,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Going to Notre Dame was a good thing for me because I was able to walk into a new system, go to a place where I didn't know anyone, and I was able to do very well with that, going in there attacking everything, getting to know everyone in the building and creating a lot of relationships.  Being able to learn from the coaches and the system that they had planned for me…being able to be at two blue-blood colleges, it was amazing, man. It’s a blessing.”

He mentioned some top OSU alums on the edge, and how he learns from everybody – and that includes others like Maxx Crosby and Carlos Dunlap…but one thing you might NOT like about him?

“My favorite team growing up? I mean, I'm from New York, my dad was a big Giants fan, so I had to go with my dad,” he said. “But Washington is my favorite team now!”