It’s hard to pick out one impressive stat as the top takeaway for Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels right now.
After all, Daniels has the Commanders at 3-1 and first in the NFC East. Pretty good. He’s thrown five touchdowns against one interception and is completing 82.1 percent of his attempts, an NFL record over a player’s first four games. Not bad, right?
According to Pro Football Focus, Daniels even has a 90.6 adjusted completion percentage with 574 yards and five total scores over his last two games.
How about this? Through his first four games, Daniels has led the Commanders on 23 scoring drives—and thrown just 19 incompletions.
It’s a stunning exclamation point for the rookie, who keeps making the comparison to No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams all the more interesting.
Not that Daniels’ teammates were all that surprised after the Week 4 triumph over the Cardinals.
“I think he’s really confident in what he’s seeing,” wide receiver Terry McLaurin said, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “I think his preparation is very unique for a guy who just got into the league. … The way he attacks practice, the way he’s starting to conduct the film sessions at the end of the week for the receivers and the tight ends and stuff, it’s not a surprise when he goes out there and he executes at a high level.”
It is still reasonable to expect a regression from Daniels at some point, especially when defenses start to adjust to what he’s putting on film.
But when he “only” throws one touchdown and interception, completes 26 of his 30 attempts, still scores as a runner and his team wins 42-14 as it did in Arizona, well, that’s the type of regression the Commanders will likely be able to survive.
MORE COMMANDERS NEWS
Jayden Daniels hot start to 2024 is raising questions over No. 1 overall pick
