Dan Orlovsky didn’t hold back on praising Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels with his viral QB traits list
Jayden Daniels is already ahead of some of the top QBs in the league
Jayden Daniels came into the league as a rookie QB, but nothing he did last season showed rookie traits that you usually see in a QB’s first year. Not only did he win Rookie of the Year and break many franchise and league records, but he showed that he should be looked at as a top-5 QB in the league.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky ranked the top-5 QBs at the most important traits that a QB needs in the NFL to succeed, and Daniels was ranked highly.
Daniels has all the traits of a top-5 QB in the NFL
Orlovsky is a former QB who played in the NFL for 12 seasons, and now he’s known for his breakdowns and analysis on ESPN. He didn’t hold back on how highly he thought of Daniels when he released his viral top-5 list of traits.
Ball Placement
Ball placement is the fancy QB way of saying accuracy, and Orlovsky ranked Daniels as the second most accurate QB in the league behind Joe Burrow, and ahead of MVPs Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Daniels showed time and time again that he could drop the ball in the smallest window where only the WR could get it. Arm strength and mechanics mean nothing if your throws are all over the place and not catchable.
Daniels’ first breakout game came against the Cincinnati Bengals in primetime, and he put the nail in the coffin with a deep bomb to Terry McLaurin that fell right into his hands for a touchdown, all with pressure in his face. Having that as an elite trait in your rookie season is something you rarely ever see.
Mechanics
QB mechanics are all of the small parts that a QB has to put together for everything to flow correctly. A QB has to have a strong base, great shoulder and hip rotation, and a clean release point. All of these factors influence how strong a ball comes out of a QB’s hands and how accurate the throw will be. This is something Josh Allen had to clean up when he came into the league, and it worked wonders in his development.
Daniels, however, came into the league with better mechanics mainly due to his time in college and the work he put in during the offseasons and with his QB coach. The accuracy and arm strength we saw from Daniels last season were all because of the mechanics work he put in at practice.
Decision Making
The numbers speak for themselves with Daniels’ decision making, as he only threw nine interceptions on 480 attempts in 17 games his rookie season. He had to carry the offense many times last season, and make some tight window throws and rely on some other weapons outside of Terry McLaurin. Daniels always kept calm and made the throws he needed to, and never got reckless.
Whether it was throwing on 3rd and 4th down, or having to decide to tuck the ball and run, Daniels made the right decisions over and over again, earning him the 4th spot on Orlovsky’s list at decision making.
Rushing Ability
Daniels broke the NFL record for most rushing yards by a QB in a rookie season with 891 yards on the ground. He also showed his ability to make defenders miss, and made defensive coordinators stress about how to stop him in open space.
You really never knew when he was going to throw the ball, or tuck it and take off and make a defense look silly. The clutch runs on 3rd and 4th down really magnified how special his legs are, and he should be ranked in the top-5 of the league as a rushing QB.
After just his rookie season, Daniels’ QB traits are already being regarded ahead of players like Joe Burow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson, and the jump he can make in 2025 can solidify him as a top-5 QB in the entire league.
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