Dan Quinn explains how Jayden Daniels is truly becoming a franchise quarterback heading into the 2025 season
Jayden Daniels is taking the next step as the franchise quarterback
Quarterbacks aren’t expected to come into the league and immediately take over as the team leader, but after having a historic rookie season, that’s exactly what Jayden Daniels is doing now.
The Washington Commanders hit the lottery when they drafted Daniels, and he changed the trajectory for the franchise drastically. After being a quiet leader who led by example on the field, Daniels is becoming more of a vocal leader, and it’s helping everyone around him.
Taking the next step as the quarterback
Daniels was the guy for the Commanders the day he stepped foot in Ashburn, and the players started to realize it more as the season progressed. He took a team that won four games the prior season and took them to the NFC Championship.
Producing on the field as one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the league is a big part of the job, but so is being a leader, and that’s where we see the next step in Daniels’ development. Quinn was asked about the biggest difference in Daniels this offseason, and his response was how he is developing others around him.
“Now he’s able to help develop others and help them fulfill what they can be,” Quinn told the media. “So that’s a big deal, and that comes with communication, experience, and feedback. You’re not quite able to do that, you know, your first day on the job, but you gain street cred by your performance, by the things that you do, and then people trust him.”
Being able to see something on the field and immediately communicate it to your teammates for feedback goes under the radar, but that’s what makes the all-time greats so respected. We’ve seen Daniels build close relationships on the team already, and the new vocal role helped spark an immediate bond with WR Deebo Samuel.
The ability to be able to diagnose a play pre-snap can also help an offensive line with a lot of new pieces and rotating players due to injuries. We’ve seen the Commanders have to rotate players on the line and in the wide receiver room throughout training camp, and being able to step up as a vocal leader can keep the team on the same page.
People have talked about how Daniels can suffer a “sophomore slump”, but the more likely scenario is how he can elevate the team around him even more, and ascend into a top-5 quarterback in the league.
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