The surprising rise of Jayden Daniels should not have been a surprise at all

It took 10 weeks for Jayden Daniels to complete what should have been the simplest of passes for him. No passus in his face. No defense in coverage. Only a wide open target in the end zone, 30 yards away.

Finally, last week, he did what all the other quarterbacks on his team and even some of his coaches had already done during their weekly competition at their Friday practice. He dropped back and floated a pass that landed perfectly on target in the back corner of the end zone – right into the yellow bin.

So yeah, it turns out there’s one thing the Washington Commander’s rookie sensation isn’t very good at.

“Yeah, there’s no doubt about it,” Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said. “He’s not good with the trash can.

“But he’s really good on the pitch, so I think it will work out for him.”

So far, everything has worked out for Daniels during his rookie season — far better than the Commanders could have imagined when they took the 23-year-old Daniels with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft in April, and he was anointed the savior of a franchise just beginning to claw its way out of the depths of despair. With some sensational play — not to mention seven wins in his first 10 games — Daniels has given a jolt of energy to a franchise that hasn’t had much over the past few decades.

He’s also provided a sense of security and stability in the knowledge that they may have finally found the quarterback they’ve been looking for for decades. He was the eighth different quarterback to start on Opening Day for the franchise in the past eight seasons — a stretch that included 14 different starting quarterbacks in total. And despite an off-day on Sunday — 17 of 34 for 202 yards and just five rushing yards on three carries in a 28-27 loss to the Steelers — he’s well on his way to both leading the Commanders to their first winning season in eight years, took them to the playoffs, won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and maybe even some votes for MVP.

Ten weeks into the season, Daniels’ numbers are divine. He has completed 186 of his 257 passes (72.4 percent) for 2,171 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions. And he’s also rushed 85 times for 464 yards and four touchdowns.

There wasn’t much doubt around the NFL that Daniels would be good. The surprise is that, playing for a rebuilding team, he has been so good, so soon.

“He’s as mature of a rookie as I’ve ever been around,” Commanders tight end Zach Ertz said. “I think you can see how comfortable he is every Sunday. The coaches, him and Kliff are in synch. There’s not a play, Jayden goes out there and doesn’t have an answer.”

“Yeah, he just has a fearlessness about him when he plays,” Kingsbury added. “He cuts it loose and believes. And in practice, it’s not like he’s just trying to complete it, he’s trying to make the perfect throw and he judges himself on that, which the greats do.”

The big ones also do magical things, such as the Hail Mary he threw to Noah Brown on the final play of the game that beat the Chicago Bears 18-15 three weeks ago. There was a lot of luck involved there with a pass that tipped backwards to a completely uncovered Brown. It was far from the best game or even the best throw of Daniels’ season.

But it was a sign of how good things just seem to happen when he plays. It was an affirmation of the trust his teammates have built in him. They’ve developed a trust that he knows what he’s doing, that he can make the right play at the right time — the kind of trust teams rarely have in a rookie quarterback just 10 games into his career.

“Yeah, it’s rare because it has to be proven over and over again,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said. “And Jayden has done that all the time during his time here to show a veteran, ‘Hey, is this guy going to help us?’

“You’re just constantly being tested to see how you’re going to react.”

For Daniels, it’s no mystery how he’s come so far, so fast. He’s been working since he was a teenager, when he first started working with Ryan Porter, his private quarterback coach. He had raw athletic ability that combined with a disciplined work ethic made him a high school sensation and a star at Arizona State. And eventually it led to him winning a Heisman Trophy at LSU.

It was clear to all who saw him how special he was.

“He’s a smart quarterback, a great team leader,” said New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers, who was Daniels’ LSU teammate in 2022-23. “His running ability is amazing. His arm talent is crazy.”

However, it was his work ethic that helped put him over the top — especially his embrace of virtual reality technology while at LSU. He wasn’t just going through simulated games every week, he was going through them at the highest speed the settings would allow. When he got to the actual game this weekend, everything seemed to slow down for him.

Daniels credits this training for his sensational Heisman Trophy season, when he threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns in 12 games — the first time in his five college seasons that he topped 3,000 passing yards or 20 touchdowns. It was a remarkable leap in production and performance that vaulted him from a likely mid-round pick to the top of the 2024 NFL Draft.

And VR is still part of his routine in the NFL, which is part of the reason Kingsbury said “the game is starting to slow down for him a little bit more every week.” It is also why he is so calm beyond his years in the waning minutes of a game when everything is on the line.

“Some people can feel tight in those places,” Quinn said. “I honestly think he really energizes that spot. And I felt that (in Week 2) when we played the Giants in a close game. Here’s the last drive back and he had that smile about him that ‘Okay, it’s time.'”

Daniels was 23 of 29 for 226 yards in that 21-18 win over the Giants while rushing for 44 more. More importantly, when the Commanders got the ball back at their own 23 with 2:04 left, he calmly led them down the field for the game-winning field goal, completing both of his passes for 42 yards and running for 14 along the way. .

It was only his second career start and it made a strong statement to his teammates. And he’s done more ever since, including returning from a painful rib injury he suffered Oct. 20 against Carolina and playing the next week, even completing his miracle comeback to beat the Chicago Bears.

He has proven to be a constant in a sea of ​​chaos, always seeming to make the right decision on whether to run or throw. And he rarely makes mistakes, which is why he’s among the NFL leaders in completion percentage and hasn’t thrown an interception in the last five games.

“He plays the position well, not just throws it well,” Quinn said. “I see him growing and getting stronger as it goes on. That’s one of the things I’ve been most impressed with — playing the position and everything that goes with that quarterback spot.”

And when combined with his remarkable athletic ability, Daniels will be a tough quarterback to stop.

“He causes problems in different ways,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said before Daniels completed 24 of 35 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-23 loss at Baltimore in Week 6. “He throws the ball down the field in a very efficient rate He hits all the quick throws, the RPO throws, he gets the ball out quickly on those throws, and then if it’s not there, he creates plays on the run with his legs, too way different ways.”

Added Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr: “We’re not looking at him as a rookie. We’re looking at what we’re seeing on film, and we’re seeing one of the best quarterbacks in the league.”

The commanders always thought that was what he would be – at least in the end. So did many others around the league. Giants coach Brian Daboll famously told general manager Joe Schoen that they should try to trade up in the draft for Daniels (as seen on HBO’s “Hard Knocks”), even though there was no chance the Commanders would let him slide.

Quinn and GM Adam Peters identified Daniels early on as the future of their franchise. It’s just hard to believe that anyone in Washington thought the future would come so quickly.

“I’m not surprised … but it is surprising,” Chiefs running back Brian Robinson said. “He can be whatever he wants to be. I want him to be the best quarterback to ever play this game, if that’s what he aspires to be.”

Daniels’ goal currently appears to be a little more within immediate reach. He wants to win and make his teammates better. His press conferences have been a lesson in humility, constantly deflecting credit to others around him. Calmly downplaying everything he’s done so far, he says “I still have a ways to go. I’ll sit back and reflect after my rookie year is over.”

However, those who have witnessed his rise do not shy away from their excitement.

“He’s really earned that respect from his teammate,” Quinn said. “And that’s why they’re going to fight so hard for him, too. Some of that comes from his humility. You see him push it all back to the guys, and that’s a skill in itself that he has. His teammates are just absolutely just wanted to fight for him that they respect him so much.

“He’s only in his first year in the league,” Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin said, “and I just feel like we’ve got a lot of great things ahead of us.”

That part shouldn’t be surprising at all. His future has always been bright, even if it came a little sooner than some expected.

“I mean, he’s a winner,” Nabers said. “I don’t see anything different. He’s still leading his team to victory. He’s still taking care of the football – everything I know he’s (always) done in my eyes.”

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in the New Yorkand before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter @RalphVacchiano.

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