With each week that passes in Jayden Daniels’ rookie season, it seems wise to take mental notes about it. You might be telling stories about Daniels’ first NFL season many years from now.
Daniels is a nearly instant phenomenon in the NFL, and he followed up a historic game on Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals with another big game in a 42-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Daniels, the second overall pick of the NFL Draft, was dazzling again. He completed 26 of 30 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Something special is happening already. Daniels was a playmaking machine as he won a Heisman Trophy at LSU last season, and he’s treating the NFL just like he did the SEC. That’s rare. It’s easy to see his confidence growing, and the Commanders are getting a lot more confident in him as well.
The Commanders are 3-1 and alone atop the NFC East. We’ll see if that’s sustainable. But it seems clear that we’re in for a fun ride with the Commanders’ new star quarterback.
Washington punted in the final two minutes of the second quarter on Sunday, and that was news. The Commanders hadn’t punted since early in the fourth quarter of Week 1. That’s remarkable for a team with any quarterback, much less a rookie in his first month as a professional.
Washington’s first nine possessions against the Cardinals resulted in seven scores, with five touchdowns and two field goals. There was an interception too, the first of Daniels’ career in his fourth game, and the punt. By the end of the eighth possession, which ended with a Terry McLaurin 10-yard touchdown catch and Daniels hitting Zach Ertz for a two-point conversion, the Commanders led 35-14.
After that, the Commanders forced a turnover and Daniels led another scoring drive, this one capped with Jeremy McNichols’ second rushing touchdown. The Commanders rushed for more than 200 yards, and while not all of that can be credited to Daniels being a factor in the running game, it certainly helps.
Washington has an offense that looks as unstoppable as any in the NFL — with a quarterback who has played only four NFL games.
It’s an easy comparison to make but one that will resonate with Commanders fans: The way the early portion of Daniels’ rookie season is playing out looks a lot like Robert Griffin III 12 years ago.
Griffin was the talk of the NFL, an electrifying dual-threat quarterback who was the No. 2 overall pick of the draft after winning a Heisman Trophy. He came to a last-place team, had the entire NFL world buzzing with his exciting rookie season and led the Commanders to an NFC East title. The way RG3’s story ended was sad, with an injury in a playoff game changing his entire career trajectory, but we still remember his thrilling ride to an NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Daniels has a long way to go this season, but he’s on a similar path.
The one thing Daniels has over Griffin is that he already looks like a polished pocket passer. The Commanders started him off very slowly, barely throwing more than a few yards downfield in his first game and most of his second, but he executed that well and the offense has been opening up since then. If you didn’t know Daniels was a rookie, you never could have guessed it on Sunday. He was just an accurate, poised quarterback who was also very effective as a runner.
It doesn’t seem like Daniels is going anywhere. If he keeps playing at this level, with just a little help around him, the Commanders might be a factor all season, too.
