Offensive Rookie of the Year is one of the most coveted awards but we may already have a runaway winner. Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has excelled in the NFL so far and his play has the Commanders sitting atop the NFC East. He’s just a rookie but already looks like a seasoned player in the National Football League. Compared to his counterpart Caleb Williams who went first overall, Daniels is ahead of Williams right now and up to this point, Daniels is playing like a true franchise qb.
The 23 year old who’s 6’4 and 210 lbs. from LSU was selected in this year’s NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders in the second pick of the draft. At LSU, he succeeded Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals qb and had an exceptional time there. He was sensational in college and led the country in touchdowns, total yards, passer rating, qb rating, and many other categories. His resume is stacked and in addition, he won the Heisman Trophy in 2023, the most valuable college football award and earlier on this year at the ESPYS, he won the best college athlete in men’s sports.
Through 5 weeks, Daniels leads the league in completion percentage for quarterbacks at 77.1% and has the 3rd best QB rating at a solid 73.2% (ESPN). According to NFL.com, Daniels has 4 passing touchdowns to his name, 4 rushing touchdowns, 1,135 passing yards, and exactly 300 rushing yards. He’s a dual threat player and that is one of the many reasons why he’s so dangerous to play against. Daniels can make plays out of nothing and his scrambling skill is excellent which results in positive yards from lost plays. The Commanders are second in the league in yards per attempt at 8.5, they’re second in total touchdowns, fifth in yards per game, first in points per game, and are fourth in total yards so far (ESPN). All these great offensive stats are the result of strong quarterback play and Daniels has done just that. He’s blossomed Washington to one of the league’s best offenses and the more points the team puts up, the better chance of winning they have each game.
In order for the Commanders to sustain their success, the LSU product has to sustain his play. He’s doing a great job not giving the ball away which gives more chances for Kliff Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator for the team, to put up points on the scoreboard. Daniels is averaged 11.2 carries a game which is pretty high and I’m sure Dan Quinn, the head coach, would like to reduce that number so he can limit his quarterback to risk of injury. To this point, Daniels is clicking with Terry McLaurin, Washington’s star receiver and I believe their chemistry together will keep growing and become one of the league’s best duos. I really like Daniels’ play and he’s been pretty mistake prone through 5 weeks. The real test for him will be the 4 games against the big divisional foes like Dallas and Philadelphia and that’s a really big make or break moment for him in his rookie season.
Not just is the LSU QB an amazing player, he’s exciting to watch and gets fans off their seat. He’s brought lots of hope to the organization already in year one and it’s pretty scary to the rest of the league in coming years as he keeps growing in the NFL. Jayden Daniels has been brilliant in the league and under him, the Commanders have a very real chance of bringing playoff football to the DMV area.