ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders finally made official what has been expected since the NFL draft: Jayden Daniels is their starting quarterback.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn announced the move Monday, though Daniels, the second overall pick in April, had been working with the first team exclusively in training camp for the past three weeks. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Daniels would start, but by waiting and seeing, the Commanders allowed him to prove he was worthy of the job.
“We knew we would get here,” Quinn said, “but we were just excited to see how we would. Seeing him hit all the spots, this is a rare competitor. He’s just had a remarkable start to things.”
Quinn said he told Daniels the news during a meeting in the quarterbacks room Monday afternoon. Quinn reiterated his belief in having competition for a position then said he told Daniels, “You absolutely crushed it and earned it.”
Though the news was more of a formality, Daniels said he didn’t take anything for granted and said it filled him with “joy and happiness.” He also understood why they wanted to take their time with the decision.
“They didn’t want to go out there and [immediately say] hey, you’re a starter,” Daniels said. “I haven’t earned anything. What I did in college was great. Now it’s time for a new slate, clean slate. I have to prove it not only to myself, not only to the coaches, but to my teammates. If DQ is going to preach competition and you’ve got to earn everything, man, they can’t come in and just give me the job right away. So, I got to have to go earn it.”
Washington will have a new starting quarterback for the seventh consecutive year to open the season.
Early in training camp, Marcus Mariota was usually the first to go in at quarterback, though Daniels would take snaps with the starters in both full-team work and 7-on-7 drills.
Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, also started both of the first two preseason games; Mariota was unavailable to play Saturday in Miami because of a hamstring issue but that didn’t impact Daniels’ status.
In two preseason games, Daniels completed 12-of-15 passes for 123 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass but did score on a three-yard run against the New York Jets on a zone read.
Against New York, he completed a 42-yard pass to receiver Dyami Brown after checking out of a screen pass based on the coverage. Saturday, Daniels completed 10-of-12 passes for 78 yards, featuring a quick release that avoided pressure on multiple rushes and prevented him from being hit in the pocket. Daniels’ average time before throwing against the Dolphins was 2.02 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats.
But Quinn also pointed to Daniels’ steady progression. Quinn said he saw it come together last week, one day before they left for Miami.
“The command of it, the accuracy, the details of it, that was one of the best practices I’d seen him have,” Quinn said. “That was more in line with who he is, what he does, the checks, the calls, the communication, the delivery of the ball. He was just really on point. It was just cool to see all of that come to life.”
Since his arrival, Daniels has been praised by teammates and coaches for his ball placement and accuracy — both have shown up in games as well; his work ethic; his poise in the pocket and a personality that draws in teammates. Quinn has said Daniels has a mix of “humility and swagger.”
Washington fell in love with Daniels early in the draft process but kept its intentions to draft him quiet, though he was the player numerous coaches and executives outside of Washington said should be the pick. The Commanders wanted to make sure not to overlook others — just in case the Chicago Bears did the unexpected and bypassed Caleb Williams for Daniels.
The qualities that stood out to Washington before the draft are the same ones it has praised since he joined the team, but the team wanted to make sure Daniels was ready.
They also wanted to see how he handled each step. He impressed Quinn by how he corrected his mistakes, often knowing what went wrong before the coaches had to tell him.
“That’s usually the person who has the most self-awareness,” Quinn said. “They improve the most, they develop the fastest because they’re able to fix some of the things that go wrong, sometimes you got to figure it out. And so [they] can’t rely on the coach every single moment to say end this, end this, end this. Jayden has that at the highest level.”
This is what Washington expected when general manager Adam Peters made the decision to draft Daniels.
“It’s just a blessing that DQ and AP trust me to go out there and lead the team, lead the franchise to hopefully win some games,” Daniels said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about as a kid to experience this moment.”
