NFL insider: Jayden Daniels creating 'a lot of buzz' throughout NFL
The hype surrounding Jayden Daniels is continuing to grow heading into his rookie year in Washington. NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter Saturday morning that the Commanders could have a future star in Daniels.
“Jayden Daniels, a lot of buzz league-wide about Daniels already,” Fowler said. “When I talk to scouts and execs, they bring him up unprompted, like, it’s kind of scary what Washington could be with him.”
Daniels won the Heisman trophy in 2023 at LSU, passing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,134 yards and 10 scores. It’s that dual-threat ability that has expectations high for Daniels in Washington.
In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy during his final season of college football, Daniels also won the Davey O’Brien award, Manning award and AP Player of the Year award. He was selected No. 2 overall by the Commanders in April.
“Even though he’s a running quarterback like some others that came through, he’s more polished as a passer than a lot of those guys,” Fowler said.
Washington as a team still has some question marks after finishing 4-13 last season. But if the pieces around Daniels come together, Washington could be a surprise team in the NFL in 2024.
“They feel like if they can just get their offensive line right, Daniels could do some major damage in Year 1,” Fowler said.
Dan Quinn: Jayden Daniels has ‘humility’ of young player, ‘swagger and calmness’ of veteran
After overhauling the front office and coaching staff, the Washington Commanders also have a new face coming in at quarterback. Jayden Daniels is preparing for his first training camp after going No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he’s drawing rave reviews from head coach Dan Quinn.
Quinn spoke highly of how Daniels carried himself through Washington’s offseason program before training camp begins next month. The former LSU star has plenty of experience under his belt from his time at Arizona State and in Baton Rouge, and that’s been apparent since the Commanders selected him in the draft.
Now, Daniels is in the same spot as the rest of the team, trying to learn Kliff Kingsbury’s system. Considering he adjusted to a new scheme when he transferred to LSU – where he won the Heisman Trohpy in 2023 – Quinn said the rookie is handling everything well and helping lead that charge.
“I said it recently and I think this sums it up great – he has the humility and kind of the hunger of the young player,” Quinn told Jim Rome. “‘I’ve got a lot to prove, I’ve still got a lot to learn,’ but he also has the swagger and calmness of a veteran player. I think those 50-plus starts from ASU and LSU, that seems to come about. You see him on the field and in the huddle, that’s where he’s at his best.
“He worked really hard to learn the system. I would say, probably one advantage of starting something new, all the other players haven’t been in the system three, four, five years where they just knew it inside-out. There was a collective learning going on together. He was right there at the front of it.”