Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels caught the attention of the entire NFL in 2024. No one expected the second-overall draft pick to come out in such a fierce way; in fact, most thought he’d need further development before he made an impact. But that’s not what happened at all. Daniels showed everyone what he can really do, what he didn’t do at LSU because he wasn’t asked to, what Dan Quinn and Adam Peters saw in him through all the pre-draft meetings and workouts.
Daniels blew everyone out of the water last year, and while many expect a bit of a slide in year two, no one is taking away that he will eventually be an MVP in this league. Even Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, a division rival, ranks Daniels in his top five quarterbacks.
“My top five QBs?” Diggs replies, “I’m gonna go with Dak (Prescott), Aaron Rodgers, Jayden Daniels – there’s no order – (Patrick) Mahomes, Lamar (Jackson), and I gotta put C.J. (Stroud) in there.”
There are pauses in between each name he says, and there are obviously six quarterbacks there, not five. It’s no surprise that Prescott was the first name he said, that is his quarterback. But he also says that he didn’t name them in any particular order, so who knows what that would have looked like.
What Commanders’ fans need to take away from this, though, is that players around the league have taken notice of Daniels. They see him, they know what he is capable of, and they know how good he is still going to be in the future. Division rivalry or no, this is solid praise from a player who desires nothing more than to beat the Commanders into the ground twice a year, every year.
