Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons in league history but thinks he needs to get better
Jayden Daniels is coming off a dream season. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft won Offensive Rookie of the Year, then led his team to the NFC title game, becoming one of only six rookie quarterbacks since the AFL-NFL merger to do so. His Washington Commanders dropped that game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but it was a spectacular season for them nonetheless, considering from where they started.
Still, Daniels isn’t satisfied with what he’s done.
“As a competitor, you’re always trying to find little ways to get better,” Daniels said on a recent podcast appearance, via NFL Media.
“For me, last year was last year. That’s great, but it’s a whole new year now. I still got to go out there, I’ve got prove myself to my teammates, the organization, each and every day that I’m getting better. When it’s time to prepare and when those games come, I’ve got to know that, hey, how can I eliminate some tendencies? That’s the big thing.”
Daniels, of course, was one of the best players in the NFL this past season regardless of experience. He completed 69% of his passes at an average of 7.4 yards per attempt while throwing for 25 touchdowns against 9 interceptions and also rushing for 891 yards and another 6 scores.
He finished the season ranked eighth in the NFL in expected points added per dropback, via Tru Media, posting a mark (0.15) even better than that of the previous season’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, C.J. Stroud (0.11). Of course, Daniels will be looking to stave off the kind of backslide Stroud experienced in Year 2 of his NFL career, which is why he’s talking about proving himself all over again even after one of the best rookie seasons in league history.
Like the Texans last year, the Commanders upgraded their Rookie-of-the-Year quarterback’s supporting cast ahead of his second season. The acquisition of Deebo Samuel should give Daniels a stronger No. 2 option in the passing game, while Laremy Tunsil should help protect his blind side. Washington could still give him some more help in this coming week’s NFL Draft, but of course, he’s plenty talented to begin with and showed even as a rookie that he can make the players around him better. Provided, that is, that he does the work he’s speaking of to get better.
