Jayden Daniels is riding high after leading the Washington Commanders to a 2-1 record to start his rookie season. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is playing way, way better than anyone expected and has drawn some incredible praise for it.
Many fans are already wondering if Daniels is actually better than top overall pick Caleb Williams, whose start with the Chicago Bears has not been very good. Additionally, an NFL executive told Bob McGinn of Go Long that Daniels could eventually enter the same tier of quarterbacking as Patrick Mahomes. It doesn’t get any more supportive than that.
“Wow … wow,” the executive said to McGinn. “I thought he was going to be good. I didn’t think he’d be that good. He’ll keep getting better. He’ll be in the (Patrick) Mahomes category…There’s quarterbacks that can carry a team. There’s quarterbacks that can win with a team. There’s quarterbacks that can’t win anything. I think (Daniels) will carry a team, yes.”
Jayden Daniels gets Patrick Mahomes-level praise
Praise that is sure to make the Commanders and their fans even more enthused about Daniels, even if it seems like an expectation that is way too high for him to live up to. Even in the likelihood that he doesn’t come close to Mahomes' heights, he could easily be the franchise quarterback Washington needs.
Daniels' 80.3 percent completion percentage towers above all other QBs in the league and his adjusted net yards per pass attempt ranks fifth. He has yet to throw an interception and, although he has only two passing touchdowns, he has run for three TDS and rushed for 171 yards, good for 21st among all players in the league and second only to Lamar Jackson among quarterbacks. Daniels has more yards per rush attempt than young stars like Jalen Hurts, Bijan Robinson and Breece Hall.
Is Jayden Daniels on his way to being a star at the NFL level? It absolutely seems like it. However, he still has a lot of games left in his rookie season. The next test for him is a road matchup against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.