The Washington Commanders’ preseason action got underway today against the New York Jets on the road. It was the NFL debut for second overall pick Jayden Daniels and he didn’t disappoint in limited action.
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Daniels played for one drive of the game but looked very much like the Heisman Trophy winner that he was in college. He completed 2-of-3 passes for 48 total yards and a rushing touchdown.
The signal-caller also had a passer rating of 109.7 for the day as well. He looked comfortable, albeit in a small sample size, on the NFL stage and reminded the fans why he was taken so high in the draft.
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On his second pass of the day, Daniels unloaded on a deep pass to wide receiver Dyami Brown. He showed off his arm strength here and made a highlight reel play from the get-go.
On the rushing touchdown, Daniels showed the elusiveness that made him such a talent in college. Daniels ran an option, faked the ball to his running back, and proceeded to run it into the endzone for an easy score.
The Commanders haven’t had a dynamic quarterback like Daniels since Robert Griffin III over ten years ago. While Washington has seen strong play from quarterbacks since then, the dual-threat ability of Daniels is what separates him from the rest of the pack.
Before the preseason game against the Jets, New York head coach Robert Salah praised the rookie quarterback. He mentioned that the Jets thought highly of Daniels during the draft process.
“I know they love him,” Saleh said of Daniels and the Commanders. “He’s an impressive kid. We had a lot of – just going through the evaluation process of the draft and going over quarterbacks – I know our building thought very highly of him also, so they got a good one to work with.”
Last season with the LSU Tigers, Daniels threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,134 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns.
Daniels was the most explosive player in college football and each time he stepped onto the field, it was a highlight waiting to happen. LSU didn’t have a great defense to back him up but Daniels did all he could to help the Tigers win 10 games.
While his debut was only for one drive in the preseason, he has given Washington a lot of hope for the future. Daniels is the franchise quarterback now and will be given leeway to learn and grow the rest of the season.
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