Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is entering his second NFL season, and that means more familiarity in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. That could be bad news for the rest of the league because the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year has already seen some big improvements during training camp.
Coming in as the No. 2 overall pick last year, Daniels had to get accustomed to Kingsbury’s offensive scheme. This year, Daniels came into training camp with 20 games of experience — 17 regular season, three postseason — under his belt, and that has allowed him to be more confident and assertive at the line of scrimmage than he was this time last year.
“Just being more comfortable in the offense with another year under my belt in the system,” Daniels told reporters on Thursday. “I understand what Kliff is calling and what we’re trying to accomplish on offense. I got different tools in my tool belt … to get to different protections and different runs against certain looks. Yeah, most certainly night and day.”
The idea that Daniels could take a big step forward this fall has to be thrilling for the Commanders because, even as a rookie, he took a quick grasp of the offense. Daniels completed an impressive 69.0% of his throws for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions while leading Washington all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
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On top of those impressive passing numbers, Daniels also sliced through defenses on the ground to the tune of 891 yards and six touchdowns rushing.
Daniels has set the bar high for himself in 2025, but Commanders coach Dan Quinn said the young quarterback has been working tirelessly to make sure he’s even better.
“There is no flinch in Jayden Daniels,” Quinn said in May. “He’s as focused and relentless as you could be about getting better. And so that’s why I said for us around here, man, we appreciate that and there’s a lot of things that he and the rest of us are really digging in hard on to say, all right, can we get this better? And if he does that, I do that, others do that … there’s a lot of space we can get better at.”
One thing that should help Daniels hit another level is the addition of veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The former San Francisco 49ers star will give Daniels another target in the passing game, and that will keep defenses from honing in on his running ability.
In order for Daniels and the Commanders offense to be at full strength, however, star receiver Terry McLaurin will have to be in the lineup. His holdout has turned into a hold-in, but he and the team are still working on a new contract that satisfies both sides.
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