Sometimes, you don’t need an entire season for something to be proven - you can just tell. When it comes to Jayden Daniels, you can tell that this historic debut chapter is just the first in what will be a novel full of memories made in Landover, Maryland.
The second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has the Washington Commanders sitting at 4-1 through five weeks, their best such start since 2008 and just their second such start since the turn of the century. And the Commanders aren’t just winning, they are dominating teams while their budding superstar is stacking incredible performances.
Daniels hasn’t just been good, he’s been historic. He is the first quarterback in history to have 1,000 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in his first five career games, and has the Commanders sitting atop the league in points per game through the first quarter of the season. Daniels also ranks first in the NFL in EPA per play amongst all quarterbacks and CPOE (min. 80 plays). His 77.1 completion percentage is also nearly five percent higher than second-place Joe Burrow, and his 8.7 yards per attempt are just slightly less than first place Brock Purdy, who currently sits with 8.8. Daniels has immediately stepped in and become one of the best quarterbacks in the game, and he has done so for a franchise that has been plagued with mediocre to bottom-of-the-barrel quarterback play for the better part of 30 years.
At this point, Daniels looks like a shoe-in to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, but that may not be it. Should the Commanders continue to win games and end up winning the NFC East, Daniels could be the first rookie in the Super Bowl era to win the NFL MVP award. Daniels is currently on pace for 3.859 yards through the air and 1,020 yards on the ground with 27 total touchdowns. For comparison, Lamar Jackson won the MVP in 2023 with 3,678 yards and 24 passing touchdowns along with 821 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The NFL record for completion percentage in a season is 74.4 set by Drew Brees in 2018 - Daniels is on pace to shatter that by over three percentage points.
It isn’t just the current group of quarterbacks that Daniels is out-performing, either. 111 quarterbacks have played at least 100 snaps since the start of the 2018 season - Daniels has the highest EPA per play out of all of them. Higher than Drew Brees. Higher than Patrick Mahomes. Higher than Josh Allen, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson - every one of them. And what makes it even more impressive is that outside of Terry McLaurin, Daniels is completing passes to the likes of Olamide Zaccheaus (never had more than 40 catches in a season), Luke McCaffrey (rookie), Noah Brown (five touchdowns in six seasons), and Dyami Brown (29 catches in three seasons entering 2024). He’s playing at the highest level with less-than optimal talent offensively outside of one go-to target, and doing so as a rookie for one of the longest-suffering franchises in sports. Daniels immediately came into Washington and made them the league’s top offense while raising the play of everyone around him. If that isn’t the textbook definition of valuable, then what is?
We don't have to be so stubborn and headstrong when it comes to talent. If it looks like a dog and barks like a god, it's probably a dog - the same thing pertains to quarterback play. If he passes the eye test and the numbers look good, then you have a great one. And it absolutely isn't too soon to say that Washington has found a great one, and a potential MVP.
