There’s an electric energy to this year’s Washington Commanders team. The organization has new team owners and new head coach Dan Quinn, who has Super Bowl experience. With the Commanders now sitting at 4-1, there is finally real hope for this team after decades of mediocrity. And that spark starts with the fiery play of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels had large cleats to fill after transferring from Arizona State to LSU after three years playing for the Sun Devils. He replaced Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow after he was drafted first overall in the NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. While Daniels’s first year in Louisiana did not wow fans in the same way Burrow’s did, Daniels came into his own in 2023. Daniels led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in passing touchdowns and yards per game and, more impressively, he led the entire NCAA in yards per passing attempt and per rushing attempt. In addition, Daniels capped off his collegiate career by winning a Heisman Trophy of his own. SEC fans like myself dreaded LSU match-ups, such as their triumph over Florida when Daniels ripped an 85-yard rushing touchdown.
The Commanders drafted Daniels with the second overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, behind fellow Heisman winner Caleb Williams, who was selected by the Chicago Bears.
When the Commanders announced they would be starting Daniels for the first game of the season, I was nervous. Often, rookies support experienced quarterbacks to learn how to play at a professional level—where the competition is bigger, stronger, and faster than in college football.
Empirically, this strategy works. Patrick Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith for a season before he lit up the NFL as a two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl Champion. Aaron Rodgers watched Brett Farve’s Packers up close. Tom Brady developed by backing up Drew Bledsoe.
Moreover, first-time rookies tend to not fare too well, either. Last year’s first overall pick, Bryce Young, was benched in just Week 3 by the Carolina Panthers for poor play after he started immediately during his rookie season. Since 2000, rookie quarterbacks are 1-10-1 in Week 1 prior to Daniels’s first game. Not great, but even worse when those rookies threw for a combined 19 interceptions, and only 14 touchdowns. While some of those rookies went on to have stellar careers like Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, that list also includes a lot of career mediocrity, like David Carr, Sam Bradford, and Jameis Winston.
Following the rookie curse, the Daniels-led Commanders could not overcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 but after being thrown to the wolves, Jayden Daniels appeared to hold his own. Although Daniels did not pass for a touchdown, he showed off his athleticism with two scrabbles that ended in the end zone. He also accounted for 272 yards on the ground and in the air.
These numbers gave some hope to Commanders fans, who have not had consistent quarterback play for over a decade. However, no one expected Daniels to go on to make history in the third game of his career.
Daniels played like a veteran as the Commanders beat the Bengals 38-33. He did not turn the ball over all game, a difficult task for most rookies, and gave his team every opportunity to score, resulting in the first NFL game with no punts or turnovers since 1940. He was also extremely accurate with his passes, completing 21 of 23 for an impressive 254 yards. His NFL opponents might be bigger, stronger, and faster than their college-level counterparts, but Daniels more than makes up the difference with his playmaking ability.
Washington’s new quarterback has an on-field confidence that other rookies largely lack. During high-pressure fourth downs, Daniels can be seen on the broadcast begging Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to keep him on the field. The rookie looked unfazed on the road in Cincinnati, throwing his longest career pass of 55 yards and scoring a tight touchdown to Terry McLaurin in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
It takes years for players to develop into all-stars. A rookie should not be able to play like this.
At the time of writing, Daniels has the highest completion percentage in the NFL this year. What’s more, that completion percentage is the highest in a rookie season of all time.
On its own, Daniels’s performance this season is impressive. However, Jayden Daniels looks like the valedictorian compared to how other quarterbacks in his rookie class have fared. For example, the aforementioned Caleb Williams’s Bears are 3-2 and he has a touchdown to interception ratio of 5:4 (compared to Daniels’s 2:1). Their two careers will forever be linked, given their draft order, and through the first month of the season, the Commanders seem to have made the better choice.
Some rookie quarterbacks are sitting behind experienced veterans to give them more time to develop—mainly the Patriots’s Drake Maye (the third overall pick) and the Falcons’s Michael Penix Jr. Over time, these players could come to rival Daniels. However, that’s hard to imagine when Daniels is lighting up the Cardinals for 42 points in just his fourth game.
I still think Commanders fans must temper their expectations, despite how great Daniels has been. The NFL season is a marathon, and as teams get more tape on this Commanders offense, defensive coordinators will do their best to stop Daniels’s magic. Plus, the Commanders must continue to build the team, especially on defense and the offensive line, before the team can make any deep playoff runs.
That said, Daniels has rekindled the passionate Commanders fanbase, and that is reason enough to celebrate.
