The Washington Commanders have selected Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft
DETROIT, MI– The first Washington Commanders pick post-Dan Snyder, Josh Harris and the new ownership in Landover made their pick. Upon nearly 150,000 fans muddled in Downtown Detroit, 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels walked up to the stage. Washington needed a quarterback badly and they got it.
Having ended the Sam Howell experiment and shipping him off to Seattle, a head coach fired and replaced with Dan Quinn– this pick was imperative. Daniels possesses a skillset one can only describe as finesse and artistry. The Heisman Trophy winner led LSU to a 10-3 record. More importantly, he orchestrated what was by far one of the most entertaining seasons of football by a college quarterback since Johnny Manziel in 2013.
Daniels was a member of the group of quarterbacks that visited Commanders headquarters en masse. It seemed as though for a time Washington was more interested in UNC quarterback Drake Maye– who was picked with the next selection by the Patriots, but the tide slowly changed as it drew closer to draft night. It was evident that Daniels was going to be Washington’s pick.
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Daniels was rated at a 94.7 by PFF, ranking him first amongst all quarterbacks in 2023. Daniels is the perfect blend of finesse, artistry, and everything in between. There’s no sugarcoating it, Daniels will be a difference maker in Washington for a team that needs a catalyst to get an anemic offense kickstarted.
New head coach Dan Quinn is a defensive mind, and will rely more on his coordinators and coaches to develop Daniels. The question is will he jump in right away and be thrown into the deep end, or will the team practice patience and hold off on seeing what they have in their expensive pick?
“My journey overall to get to this point. I walked my journey. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I wouldn’t trade how I got here, how long it took or anything like that,” Daniels said at this year’s NFL scouting combine. “When I transferred, I just wanted to go out and have the opportunity to compete against the best. The SEC, you play the best competition and the best football.”
Daniels threw for 12,749 yards, 3,307 rushing, 89 passing touchdowns and 34 rushing touchdowns over his career.
