Former Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis talks NFL Draft, Washington Commanders

Former Rutgers Football and new Washington Commanders quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis talks with the media for the first time since being selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.

He details his journey as a high school recruit, time at Minnesota, moving on to Rutgers and becoming a seventh round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Athan Kaliakmanis Interview Transcript

First of all, congratulations. Can you talk about the hard work that you’ve put in when you got to Rutgers under coach Schiano, coach Ciarrrocca, and then the work you had to put in after the season ended to get where you are?

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah, for sure. First of all, it’s good to hear from you again. It was just a accumulation of everybody and everything. I got there and coach Ciarrocca, me and coach Ciarrocca set out goals and, you know, it was to approach every day and get incrementally better, it was to do the things that, you know, human nature tells you not to do, it was to make the choice to chop the, you know, focus on that spot and hit it over and over and over again. And that’s how I approached every single day. Uh, but it’s also a credit to my teammates who work with me as well. We just all grew together.

I mean, right after the season, around new years, yeah, I went on new years to Florida, started training there, uh, extreme Fort Myers. I was actually with DT Sheffield. So, I was there with him training. We were throwing together all the time. It was a lot of phone calls, a lot of interviews, especially at the bowl games. I pretty much met with every team at the games. I’m sure happy I landed with the Commanders. I’ll tell you that right now. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be, you know, playing for them. And I just love the coaching staff and I love that building and I connected with them really well. SoI’m just happy to learn and I’m eager to get better.

Hey, Athan congratulations on getting drafted. I’m with, uh, I’m with WRSU, Rutgers radio. What stood out in the draft process about Washington’s quarterback room. And what’s something that you can you’re looking forward to maybe learning from the other players in the room.

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah, it’s their resumes, you know, you got two Heisman winners and then Sam Hartman through for over 15,000 yards, uh, over a hundred touchdowns in college. Um, I mean, I can’t wait to learn and hear their experiences. I mean, these guys have played on the biggest stages at the biggest levels, one of the biggest games. I’m just going in there and learning, that’s what I want to do. That’s how I’m going to approach it. I’m going to take, I’m going to be a sponge when I get there. You know, I, my, my mindset is you never know it well enough ever. So taking in as much information as I could possibly take in from guys with the resumes that they have, I’m going to go in there and learn. I mean, they’re just outstanding quarterbacks. All of them have done really good things in their careers and I’m really excited to learn from them.”

Hey, Athan, congratulations on getting drafted. I’m wondering just what was your day like on Saturday? Where did you watch the draft? Who did you watch it with? What was the feeling like when you saw the phone number from, I imagine the Washington DC area code and, how did you celebrate after getting drafted?

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah. So Iwas just home was home with my family, my parents, my siblings, my grandpa, and then a really close family friend. We were all just here watching it and then when I got that call, like it was like out of body experience. I just, I can’t explain that feeling. It was incredible, especially from the commanders, cause I really wanted to go there. I love the coaching staff, when I met with them, my visit was just incredible. I love the facilities and I love the people there.

Um, so when I heard that, uh, I mean the emotion, like, you know, I just felt, I felt crazy, it was a crazy feeling. Then just for the rest of the night, we hung out at home, uh, just celebrated here with my family. You know, it was a really long journey for all of us, not just me, but it was for my family. It was hard, but it was all worth it. So we just, we were just here celebrating that together.”

Hey, Athan, congratulations on everything. I just wanted to ask you, you know, you’ve talked in the past about kind of the journey and getting to Rutgers and how important, coach Ciarrocca was in that process, but could you just kind of take us through how important Rutgers was, I guess, just sort of big picture and getting you to this point when you arrived on campus, things were a little uncertain with your career, but then going through the quarterback competition, winning that competition, and then being the starter of the past two years.

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah. I tell everybody that asked me, I love Rutgers. I love New Jersey. I mean, you know, the coaches, the players, you know, besides the football team, which I love with all my heart and everybody in that building. I have their backs forever besides them. The community was just special to me. I felt welcomed everywhere, people were just really kind to me and I really respected that community. I love that community. I tell people this too, I feel like I didn’t get enough time there. It just flew by and I just enjoyed it that much. I enjoyed the hard work. I enjoyed, you know, everything with coach Ciarrocca. He’s known me since I was 14 years old. So we were talking about this the other day, like where, where we started, you know, where we’re at now and then where I’m going to be, you know, it’s, it’s just crazy, you know, where you come from, you look back and I remember coach Ciarrocca had, um, when I was at Minnesota and coach Ciarrocca was there, he had this sign on this wall and it said over a long period of time, it happens all of a sudden. And I used to look at it and go, what does that even, what does that mean? You know, when I got to Rutgers, he said that again and it like hit me and it wasn’t all of a sudden it was over a long period of time, the people that were there with me, um, the, the journey, the people that were, that helped me become the man I am today. Coach Schiano, the community. It just, it all clicked because of that process, because of the things I had to go through because of the coaches that were in my life that helped me get to where I am today, that shaped me into the man I am today. The community, you know, the best food on the planet is in Jersey, in my opinion, so just being at Rutgers, I can’t, I don’t have enough words to describe how much I love Rutgers, how much I loved our fan base, the fan showing up to games, um, you know, our home games, there was nothing better than a home game in Jersey. I loved it. I had a really, really good experience and it’s something I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.”

I’m wondering what kind of player do you feel like the Commanders are getting in you? What about your skillset do you think is the most valuable and unique that you can bring to this team? And then also a little bit of a two-parter if you don’t mind. How are you going to prepare and get ready for your first NFL training camp?

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah, they’re going to get someone that’s just eager to learn. That’s going to go in there and do whatever it takes to help the team win, no matter what my role is, whatever my role is, I want to help the team win. I want to help guys get better. I want to get better. I’m going to go in there and attack it every single day and work on getting incrementally better. Whatever that role is, whatever that may be, that’s exactly what I’m going to do it and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. Um, I know now being as, you know, seventh round pick, you’re starting at the bomb again, no matter what pick you are, you’re going into a new stage in your life. This is something new going into college. I redshirted you know, and then there was a starter in my second year. This is not my team, this is Jayden Daniels team and whatever I can do to help him win, whatever I can do to learn. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m excited to do it.”

Hey Athan, Alec Crouthamel here from On3. First off, congratulations on getting selected. You talked about the accomplishments of all the quarterbacks in the commander’s QB room. There’s also a lot of different skillsets. So I guess, how can that help you in your early development as a professional quarterback?

ATHAN KALIAKMANIS: “Yeah, for sure. At Rutgers, you know, even as the starter, I was taking things and including them in my game from freshmen quarterbacks from Rocco (Rainone), from Sean (Ashenfelder), from AJ (Surace), I was learning from them as well. I take pieces from everybody. I try to put it into my game and, you know, see how it works for me and how it fits for me. You know, like I said before, I think you could always get better and just taking pieces from everybody, um, and putting it into my game and then develop that, that skill and, you know, just using that, I think just helps you as a football player and it’s helped me. I take pieces from everybody. Anything I learn, anything that can be.