Jayden Daniels' breakout no surprise here
HOFootball/NFL Draft Scout rated him No. 1 over Caleb Williams.
After perhaps the greatest prime-time debut for an NFL quarterback, Washington Commanders Jayden Daniels is the buzz of the day.
He won a dramatic, high-caliber shootout against fellow LSU alum Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, 38-33, with a performance that stunned even the ever-critical Troy Aikman, whose praise was effusive.
Aikman went into the game suspecting Daniels could be special, just as we did before the last draft when we rated him as the No. 1 prospect, ahead USC’s popular Caleb Williams. I’ll get back to that later.
Monday night, Daniels finished 21 of 23 — a rookie-record 91 percent completion percentage —for 254 yards and two passing touchdowns and a 141.7 rating. He also ran 12 times for 39 yards and a touchdown. Burrow delivered a game that, on most other nights, would have been strong enough to win, completing 29 of 38 for 324 yards and three touchdowns (a 127.5 rating).
With a little more than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, in the face of a Bengals blitz, Daniels lofted a 28-yard dime to Terry McLaurin for their second deep connection — the other a 55-yarder in the first half — and that touchdown all but sealed the game.
Daniels led Washington to touchdowns on four of its first five drives. If it weren’t for kneel-downs, Washington would have 14 consecutive scoring drives dating back to its season opener in Tampa. And the Commanders (2-1) have yet to commit a turnover on the season.
Long-suffering Washington fans are elated, as well they should be.
The Washington Post has a "Daniels Tracker” for fans to follow.
It’s all good, especially after a draft in which six quarterbacks were selected among the first 12 picks. Until Monday night, those high picks were not living up to their hype, even allowing for them being rookies. Last year, C. J. Stroud set the bar high for first-year quarterbacks. There were other outstanding performances in Week 3 but Daniels’ was clearly the best.
Since before the draft, we thought Daniels would be the one to break out as a rookie.
We reminded you a couple of weeks ago that expectations for No. 1 pick Caleb Williams were unrealistic after all the red flags we saw at USC and that we liked Jayden Daniels more.
This is similar to the 2023 Draft when we clearly preferred C. J. Stroud to Bryce Young, the people’s choice and No. 1 pick of the Carolina Panthers, who since then fired their coach and benched Young.
Here are our ratings on April 15 heading into the draft when almost all lists were topped by Williams.
2024 Draft Ratings: NFL Draft Scout/Hall of Football
April 15, 2024
Rnk Player School Pos . Ht Wt Class 40 Proj. Rnd 1 Jayden Daniels LSU QB 1 6032 210 rSr 4.52 1 2 Caleb Williams USC QB 2 6011 214 Jr 4.48 1 3 Drake Maye UNC QB 3 6043 223 rSo 4.62 1 4 Marvin Harrison Jr. Ohio State WR 1 6032 209 Jr 4.46 1 5 Malik Nabers LSU WR 2 5116 200 Jr 4.41 1 6 Rome Odunze Wash. WR 3 6027 212 rJr 4.45 1 7 Joe Alt Notre Dame OT 1 6085 321 Jr 5.05 1 8 Brock Bowers Georgia TE 1 6031 243 Jr 4.48 1 9 Michael Penix Jr. Washington QB 4 6022 216 rSr 4.58 1 10 Quinyon Mitchell Toledo CB 1 6001 195 rJr 4.33 1
Last season we watched Daniels improve from a quarterback we thought was too run-first in 2022, to a dynamic, dual-threat worthy of comparisons to two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson but a better passer. Check out our complete pre-draft profile on Daniels.
Highlights from that profile:
Daniels was college football's most ascendent quarterback last season, and in the past two months some rated him ahead of Caleb Williams — we agree with that assessment. Last year, we thought Daniels wasn't synced up with the passing game due to his run-first approach. The 2023 season was different. He became a constant threat both as a runner and a passer …
ANALYSIS
Strengths: To close the loop on comparisons, Baltimore's two-time NFL MVP Lamar "Action" Jackson is listed at 6-2, 210, but is an elite runner. Like Jackson, Daniels is a danger as a runner and a passer. He is not quite the open-field threat Jackson is, but he is a superior passer with an excellent throwing motion that achieves consistent results. Daniels shows accuracy to all levels of the field and has the arm strength to make the requisite NFL throws …
FRANKLY: A lot has changed since last year when we thought Daniels was a second-day consideration had he entered the 2023 draft. Back then, he was a run-first QB who wasn't in sync with the passing game … In 2023, he improved on every aspect, especially his decision-making … A while ago, the astute Pat Kirwan of Moving the Chains (Sirius channel 88) said Daniels is the best quarterback prospect in this draft. He is certainly in of the top three, and climbing in our eyes thanks to the red flags we noted on USC's vaunted Caleb Williams.
That’s our story and we are sticking to it.
Frank Cooney is as perspicacious as he is a talented sports writer!
Frank...believe it or not, your original article ranking Daniels over Williams gave me pause, having watched many Caleb performances, and only those of Daniels in his PAC12 freshman year...I thought JD was talented but poorly coached, and that Williams was a wild stallion who almost always managed to make the proverbial "chicken salad" out of very little. That said, what I saw last night was revelatory, and convincing...what a performance. As usual, you were right in your pre-draft analysis...now, about Nabers v. Harrison, Jr!