Jayden Daniels: The Rookie Quarterback Taking the NFL by Storm
ASHBURN, Va. — It was a sunny spring day in Ashburn, Virginia, when the Washington Commanders gathered for their offseason workouts. Among the players, a young quarterback named Jayden Daniels was quietly making waves. Although he hadn’t yet been named the starter, veteran teammates like tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver Terry McLaurin had a strong feeling that this rookie was destined for greatness in the NFL.
By the time training camp wrapped up, their suspicions were confirmed. “I was telling everyone that would listen how good he would be,” Ertz said. “Just something got me really excited. I knew there would be some growing pains, but his ability to work and his humility to get better is what sets him apart.”
Fast forward to the present, and the rest of the NFL is catching up to what Ertz and McLaurin already knew. Daniels has been a game-changer for the Commanders, leading the team from a dismal 4-13 record in 2023 to an impressive 14-5 record, including the playoffs. This remarkable turnaround has propelled Washington to its first NFC Championship Game since the 1991 season. If they manage to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Fox), Daniels will make history as the first rookie QB to start in a Super Bowl.
During the regular season, Daniels ranked fourth in QBR, trailing only MVP front-runners Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow. In his two postseason games, he boasts the highest Total QBR (86.8), with 567 yards passing, four touchdowns, and an additional 87 yards rushing. These performances have fueled Washington’s road upsets over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the top-seeded Detroit Lions in the wild-card and divisional rounds, respectively.
So, what makes Daniels so special? According to his teammates, coaches, and members of the organization, it’s his work ethic and leadership qualities that have set him apart. From the moment he arrived, Daniels has been a diligent student of the game, showing an inquisitive mind and attention to detail that is rare among rookie QBs. He’s an instinctual leader with a cool head, thriving in high-pressure situations while maintaining a sense of fun.
During a minicamp session in June, McLaurin, who had played with 10 different starting quarterbacks in Washington from 2019 to 2023, was asked about Daniels. He couldn’t hide his enthusiasm, praising the rookie’s preparation and eagerness for extra reps after practice. “He’s the real deal,” McLaurin said.
Comparisons to a Legend
Shortly after organized team activities began in late May, Ertz made a bold comparison, likening Daniels to Andrew Luck. “I compared him to Andrew Luck, which is the ultimate compliment,” Ertz said. Luck, a former first overall pick in 2012, was considered a generational quarterback prospect and played with Ertz at Stanford. “Andrew had a gravitational pull. Guys just wanted to be around him,” Ertz explained. “Jayden is very similar. Guys just want to be around him because he doesn’t view himself as anyone other than one of the guys.”
Washington’s plan in the spring was to have Daniels earn the starting job through his preparation, habits, and play throughout the offseason program. As a result, Daniels worked with the second unit while veteran Marcus Mariota took snaps as the starter. But for Ertz, it was clear early on that Daniels would be QB1 when the 2024 season started. Daniels’ eagerness to learn stood out, as he constantly sought advice from veterans like Ertz, McLaurin, and 11-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Anticipating Daniels’ eventual promotion, Ertz began asking to run with the second-team offense in two-minute drills to get more time with Washington’s future quarterback. “The physical tools stood out immediately,” Ertz said, “the way the ball popped out of his hands. [But] it was the stuff that not everyone sees that stuck out the most.”
Building a Winning Culture
Washington guard Sam Cosmi saw it too. When he signed a four-year, $74 million extension days before the season started, he cited Daniels as one of the reasons he was thrilled to have his future tied to the franchise. “We got a special, special dude,” Cosmi said in September. “That makes me excited to be here.”
Daniels caught the coaching staff’s attention early as well. During a rookie minicamp session in early May, passing game coordinator Brian Johnson was left in awe as he watched Daniels operate in practice. “He came out here and it was like bang, bang, bang, bang,” Johnson said. “Just completion after completion and the ball didn’t hit the ground. He had the install completely dialed and locked in. You become impressed, not only by the results [but] by the work and the action. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do — and he goes out there and does it every single day.”
Daniels has continued to impress his teammates throughout the season. During a late November practice, safety Jeremy Reaves played a coverage in a way that surprised Daniels. After practice, Daniels asked Reaves why he had done it that way, and, “Do I need to do better with my eyes here? From a concept standpoint how can we make it [better]?”
“It’s refreshing,” Reaves said. “You don’t see that a lot.”
Ertz agreed. “I’ve been around high draft picks — they feel they have all the answers,” Ertz said. “Jayden was the complete opposite. He’s asking me about certain plays, why I ran a certain route this time, how could the timing be a little better. It was the humility that stood out to me.”
Leadership and Resilience
In Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns, McLaurin finished with four catches for 112 yards. But up 31-6 in the third quarter, he couldn’t hang onto a pass in the corner of the end zone. It was not officially ruled a drop, but McLaurin considered it one and he had already fumbled that quarter. It bothered him on the bench, and Daniels noticed.
“I expect a lot of myself,” McLaurin said. “He came over to me and sat down and talked to me and was like, ‘First of all, we’re winning. You’re playing great. You’re going to make that play nine times out of 10. We trust you and I trust you, so I’m going to continue to come back to you and don’t sweat the small mishaps.'”
Later in the season against Atlanta, McLaurin was held to one catch for 5 yards. Again, Daniels noticed. And again, after throwing a third-quarter touchdown pass to Ertz, Daniels ran over to McLaurin and said, “Hey, look at me. Stay in it. You’re going to make a play.”
McLaurin found opportunities to reciprocate. One week after beating the Browns, Washington lost at Baltimore 30-23. A visibly angry Daniels sat on a cooler next to the bench as the Ravens ran out the clock — it was a look McLaurin had not previously seen from the QB.
“I’ve never seen a quarterback that upset after a game,” McLaurin said. “He wasn’t throwing his helmet, he wasn’t cussing anybody out, but you could see how mad and frustrated he was. That spoke to me. You could tell how much he cares. … I told him, ‘I love seeing that in you; don’t ever lose that fire of hating to lose a game. That’s what’s going to make you different.'”
Daniels also has the ability to build relationships, which has especially been evident with Wagner — a Super Bowl champ and future Hall of Famer. The two developed a bond early on; Daniels talked often with veterans but became closer with the former leader of Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense.
The ease with which Daniels developed a rapport with such a star veteran was uncommon for a rookie, teammates and coaches said. They sit together front and center in team meetings. They also bicker like siblings, with Daniels unafraid to needle the 13-year pro who is 10 years his senior.
In a news conference earlier this month, Daniels began an answer about Wagner by saying, “He’s annoying” before praising Wagner’s leadership. When asked what was annoying about Wagner, Daniels deadpanned to reporters, “Everything.”
On New Year’s Day, Wagner was asked about having Daniels and other rookies on their leadership committee. As he started to answer, Daniels walked past and said, “Shut up, Bobby.” “See, I’m trying to give him a compliment and on cue he just messes it up,” Wagner said. Daniels walked past again, and Wagner yelled to him, “Pull your pants up.” The reply: “Bobby Wagner’s annoying.” “This is how we’re starting the new year off,” Wagner said.
Preparation and Dedication
Daniels arrives at the Commanders’ facility between 5 and 5:30 a.m. every Wednesday through Friday during the season to begin working on the game plan for the upcoming opponent. Daniels spends around 30 minutes watching film, sometimes alone in the quarterbacks meeting room and other times on his iPad while soaking in the hot tub. Then, around 6 a.m., Daniels, Kingsbury, and quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard head over to the practice bubble to walk through the approximately 60 to 70 plays on the game plan list for that week.
“I mean, 6 a.m. is early for a younger cat,” Kingsbury said, “[Daniels] wants to be there. That’s the thing I appreciate. I’ve never once felt that energy [from him] like, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ It’s like, ‘Let’s go!’ And that to me is the most impressive thing I’ve seen so far is just the want to be great and the competitive stamina to be … always open to learning.”
Indeed, Daniels does preparation with Washington’s virtual reality technology — something he started his last year at LSU — and work on the headset either before or after practice every day. But Kingsbury said, “He likes to be out there doing it, seeing it.”
“The best lesson in life is failure,” Daniels said of the extra reps the morning walk-throughs afford him. “So, I get to fail in those types of situations and move forward. So, by the time game time comes, I’m not thinking about [it], just going out there and playing.”
To simulate game situations, Kingsbury calls in the plays with his phone, then runs routes. Daniels, wearing a helmet, gets the playcall through his AirPods before receiving the snap from Pritchard. Before the snap, Kingsbury tells Daniels what coverage he should expect and reminds him about his drops and reads. The goal, they say, is to paint a mental picture so Daniels can visualize what it would look like in a game.
Kingsbury is often the primary receiver. Sometimes he’ll say he’s covered so Daniels has to find his next read. The three men go over various in-game scenarios: 30 seconds left, need a touchdown, red zone work. They’ll call out one-word plays that have multiple options and a specific snap count — a two-word play, Taylor Swift, resulted in a touchdown pass to rookie Ben Sinnott earlier this year.
Kingsbury and Pritchard said Daniels rarely needs a reminder of his responsibility on a given play. “He’s had this material for less than 12 hours,” Pritchard said. “He’s really in tune with where we are already.”
Daniels receives the game plan from the staff around 6 p.m. Tuesday, studies it for 90 minutes, and often draws out the plays in a notebook. “When I can get here in the morning, I’m able to go in there and kind of just walk through it and I’ll visualize it, walk through this or the reads, footwork,” he said, “and if I have any questions? Kliff and [Pritchard] are answering them right then and there.”
Daniels’ meticulous game prep doesn’t end in the bubble. He texts Kingsbury about plays he’s seen in other games or watched on YouTube. Kingsbury likes that the plays he sends match Washington’s concepts.
On the morning of the season opener at Tampa Bay, Daniels asked Kingsbury for one more walk-through before heading to the stadium. So Kingsbury, Pritchard, assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough and quarterbacks Mariota and Jeff Driskel headed to a ballroom for one final round of mental reps. This scene has repeated itself every game-day morning since — a routine Kingsbury said he’s never seen before but helps explain what he’s seen from Daniels’ way of processing all along.
“His football knowledge is beyond what I think any rookie quarterback anybody could ever possibly expect it to be,” Kingsbury said. “He’ll bring up things and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t even think about that, but it’s a valid point.’ He’ll make corrections on plays that I’ve designed, I’ll f— him up and he’ll be like, ‘No, no coach, you were on this side when we were doing our walk-through.’ ‘Really? Yeah. OK. You’re right.'”
And a key part of that knowledge is honed in the bubble, ending around two and a half hours before the first team meeting of the day. “All I know,” one assistant coach said, “is that when I get here they’re coming out of the bubble.”
Clutch Performances and Competitive Spirit
Daniels has already become known for being a late-game hero. He has led six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, which highlights the competitiveness and calmness under pressure teammates have seen from him all season.
- Week 3: 27-yard pass to McLaurin in a “Monday Night Football” win over Cincinnati with 2:17 left for a 38-26 lead.
- Game-winning drives against the New York Giants in Week 2, Chicago in Week 8, Philadelphia in Week 16, Atlanta in Week 17, and at Tampa Bay in the wild-card playoff win on Jan. 12.
Daniels leads the NFL with six touchdown passes in the final four minutes of regulation (and posted a 95.6 quarterback rating). “It’s what you live for,” he said. “I’m just competitive, man. I just want to win. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win.”
During practices, Washington’s quarterbacks will compete to see who the most accurate passer is while throwing into a net with three designated landing spots. On Fridays, they toss a ball from about 30 to 40 yards into a yellow garbage can positioned in the corner of the end zone. Afterward, Daniels and Blough play a game of HORSE with throws into the net.
“He likes to trash talk. He’s got a good trash talk game. I’ll give him that,” Blough said. “I’m only 29, but he makes me feel like an old man sometimes and he can tell I don’t have the same arm strength I used to and it’s the reason I retired. He’ll remind me of that.”
The joy Daniels brings while competing shows itself in each game. Washington guard Nick Allegretti said sometimes he’ll hear Daniels scream at the end of scrambles. “It’s the excitement to yell,” Allegretti said. “It’s like you’re stealing yards, and it brings energy to the whole team. It definitely gives him juice. Whenever that happens the flow just starts to feel really, really good. He’s cooking.”
Teammates say Daniels is even-keeled in tense moments, which is a by-product, Daniels said, of all the work he’s put in behind the scenes — before the season and during. After Washington beat Tampa Bay with a last-second field goal, Daniels sat stone-faced on the bench for a second, before standing up, smiling, and then calmly walking to an interview. “He has a very unique calmness about it,” Johnson said. “A silent assassin.”
Originally Written by: John Keim
