Jayden Daniels’ QB coach reveals what he’s working on most this offseason, and why it’s beneficial long term

Jayden Daniels enters a critical offseason where he needs to work on his availability more than his ability, so the Commanders can bounce back in 2026.

Josh Taylor — Washington Commanders News Writer
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This is a critical offseason for the Washington Commanders as they look to rebuild the roster in free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft.

It’s also the most important offseason for franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels, who needs a bounce-back season in 2026. He will have a new offensive scheme next year with David Blough taking over, but he also needs to work on his own personal development.

Daniels’ QB coach revealed what he’s working on the most this offseason, and it was his biggest weakness last season.

Jayden Daniels’ QB coach says he’s working on building his body armour this offseason

Daniels proved that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but an injury-riddled 2025 season seemed to make a lot of people doubt his abilities. Now, he has to lead the team back in 2026, which starts with him protecting himself more.

Daniels’ personal quarterback coach, Ryan Porter, spoke with ESPN’s John Keim and said that he’s working on building his body armour up, so his availability can match his ability.

“I think Jayden’s big thing for the off-season this year is just to put on some more body armor,” Porter said. “I think he’s trying to, you know, just get a little bit bigger, faster, stronger, put on some more lean muscle. I mean, guys are bigger, faster, stronger in the NFL, you know? So I think that’s been his is more of his focus, like, let me get my body right. I think from a mechanical standpoint, there’s not much that he really needs to focus on that’s new.”

“Jayden’s skill set and what he’s been doing since he’s been in high school through college, he mechanically, is top three in the NFL. From a full work standpoint, throwing motion, and accuracy. You know, I’m making sure his eyes are before his feet, his feet control his throwing motion, right eyes. I don’t really see much better. I think I don’t mind saying this and being biased. I think he is the best. If you took away his throwing or his running ability, and you surrounded him with the right receivers, tight ends, and he had, you know, a significant amount of weapons around him, like he could play the he could play every game to them from the pocket better than anybody.”

Jayden Daniels has to get healthy and stay healthy

2025 was a season to forget for Daniels, as he suffered multiple separate injuries and missed significant time. It started with a sprained knee in Week 2 that caused him to miss the next two games. Then, he injured his right hamstring in Week 7, which caused him to sit out the following week.

The biggest gut punch of the season was an elbow dislocation in Week 9, where Daniels missed the next three games, and reinjured it in his return, which shut him down for the rest of the season. It doesn’t matter who the Commanders add this offseason if Daniels misses the majority of next season again, so his durability is the biggest area he needs to work on this offseason.

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