Jayden Daniels turns zany Commander into serious series | Washington Commander

There are times in life when second should be first.

The Carolina Panthers made a major trade with the Chicago Bears to select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. The Houston Texans were ranked No. 2, beating Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.

More than a season later, the regression is back. Young has struggled to the point where he’s become a backup to a 36-year-old journeyman, while Stroud — who is having one of the best seasons ever for a rookie quarterback — is the runaway NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. .

Quarterbacks are once again No. 1 and No. 2 in the 2024 draft. The Bears used the No. 1 pick last year to acquire USC’s Caleb Williams from the Panthers. The Washington Commanders then selected LSU’s Jayden Daniels with the second pick.

With this choice, the once zany franchise appears to be saved.

Williams’ production has been about as good as the Bears’ offense, but after the first four weeks of the 2024 season, Daniels not only looks to be the best rookie signal-caller in his class, he also looks to be one of the best on our roster. The rookie quarterback I’ve seen.

The numbers so far are ridiculous.

• Daniels’ EPA per dropback (a reliable measure of efficiency per play) of 0.32 is the highest among rookie quarterbacks in Weeks 1-4 since at least 2000, and Daniels leads the NFL in overall EPA pass rate, is +50.7. That’s some distance ahead of second-place Josh Allen (+36.7).

• Daniels’ 82.1% pass completion rate is the highest among quarterbacks at any point in their career (minimum 100 pass attempts) since at least 1950.

• The Commanders have scored on 23 drives this season, while Daniels has just 19 incompletions. The 1973 Los Angeles Rams are the only team in NFL history to score more points than incompletions through the first four games of the season.

• The 2024 Commanders’ EPA-per-break through the first four games of the season is the second-highest in NFL history. The 2007 New England Patriots are widely considered the best offense of all time and the only team to be more efficient overall.

Some extremely efficient quarterbacks are that way because they throw most of their cheap stuff into coverage. That’s not Daniels. He has completed 18-of-21 passes for 294 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions this season while going 10-19 through the air for a passer rating of 134.6 and a passer EPA of +29.0 –Ranked second in the NFL behind Bullock. On passes of 20 or more yards through the air, Daniels completed 2 of 8 passes for 82 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, a passer rating of 69.8, and a passer EPA of + 0.4. Deep passing has been one of Daniels’ few flaws so far, but you can already see him handle the mistakes and move on.

Washington defeated the Arizona Cardinals 42-14 on Sunday, marking a meaningful return for Daniels, who spent his first three college seasons at Arizona State before transferring to LSU , for offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who was the Cardinals’ head coach in 2019. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn made sure to hand the game ball to Kingsbury after the win because he knew how much it meant to his team and how much Kingsbury pushed Daniels The ridiculous attributes are played to the highest possible level.

Daniels is not perfect. Like any rookie quarterback, he’ll make the occasional silly throw. But defenders can’t count on him making mistakes, and if he does, they need to take advantage of him because he learns from his mistakes and he does it quickly on the field. We saw that in Sunday’s game. Daniels throws his first NFL interception in first half: Arizona cornerback Garrett Williams is in better position than Washington’s Terry McLaurin , he stopped the rookie on a long pass at the last moment. On Daniels’ next attempt, he again threw to McLaurin on a deep pass, and Williams nearly got another pick. But Daniels calmed down and threw just two incompletions from that point on.

“They didn’t say anything to me,” Daniels said of his coaches and teammates about the interception. “I wanted that one, but you’re good, move on to the next play. The NFL is always focused on the next play. You can’t go back and fix what happened in the past, but no one really talked to me about it.

Maybe it’s because they know Daniels rarely makes the same mistake twice.

For the most part, Daniels has proven he’s capable of running complex NFL offenses in a way you wouldn’t expect from a first-year player. He already handles the game based on his physicality to the level of a Patrick Mahomes or Matthew Stafford, proven masters of pocket moves and no-look passes. Against the Cardinals, rookie Luke McCaffrey (Christian’s younger brother) completed a 17-yard pass, all by Daniels. For such a game, it is difficult for the defense to give a suitable answer. Some things you just have to accept it, put your hat in the ring, and move on.

While there have been other rookie quarterbacks who started strong in the NFL and then fizzled out, Daniels looks like he’s here to stay. Kingsbury has expanded his play-calling palette from his days at Arizona, giving Daniels an open concept for his receivers, and while Daniels has no problem completing all of the stuff going on in the game, he Also knows when to profit and the goals his coach has set for him. Daniels can play superstar when called upon, but he relies on more than just his physical gifts — at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds with blazing speed, he has some. As will be the case in the 2023 Heisman Trophy season, Daniels’ understanding of the game is on a different level. That was true when I watched the taping with him the day before he won the award, and it’s even more true now.

As Quinn said after Sunday’s game, his new quarterback won’t let anything, including a return to Sun Valley for an old family week, affect his preparation.

“I told him earlier that I’m really proud of him. I know there’s some extra story to ASU. Like Cliff, you never know that. I just feel like he’s a real G dealt with it the same way. “He was in the room with the quarterback and everyone else late at night watching tape. There’s only one office downstairs in the hotel, and the whole week, including last night, was just dedicated. The extra time they just stayed and discussed everything, so I think that speaks to their preparation.

That’s why, as impressive as Daniels has been, he’s unlikely to be a four-game wonder. What you see in this particular miracle is exactly what you get.