Washington Commanders select LSU QB Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick. Grade: A+

The Washington Commanders have taken Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick.

Of all the quarterbacks in this draft class, Daniels has more on the ball in terms of the balance between structure from the pocket, and the ability to play above and beyond the Xs and Os. The Commanders had a quarterback very much like this when they selected Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in 2012. History may be on the way to repeating itself. 

Jayden Daniels turned himself into a four-star recruit out of Cajon High School in San Bernadino, California, despite the fact that he needed a note from a doctor to compete on the freshman and junior varsity teams because he stood 5-foot-11 and weighed 130 pounds. Eventually, he got offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State and UCLA. Daniels first wanted to attend USC, but his relationship with head coach Herm Edwards took him to Arizona State instead. After earning his degree in 2021, Daniels entered the transfer portal, choosing LSU over Oklahoma.

In 2023, Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in a season that saw him complete 236 of 332 passes for 3,811 yards, 40 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 143.7. The combination of a completion rate over 70% (Daniels’ was 71.1%), and a yards per attempt average over 10.0 (Daniels’ was 11.5), throwing 10 times more touchdowns than interceptions? Well, there’s a lot to like here.

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The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Daniels finished his 2023 season with 35 completions of 20 or more air yards in 55 attempts for 1,347 yards, 22 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 146.8. Under pressure, he completed 25 of 50 passes for 557 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 123.5. And as a runner, Daniels provided 1,250 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 65 carries — that’s a rather rich 10.4 yards per carry.

There wasn’t much Daniels didn’t do last season at an absurdly high level, and that has planted him in most minds as a high first-round prospect. The tape doesn’t lie, and the tape agrees. Daniels should be seen right up there with (or above) Caleb Williams and Drake Maye (or anybody else) as a true franchise quarterback prospect.

PLUSES

— Responsible for 103 explosive plays last season. There isn’t really a book on how to stop him at this point.

— The best deep fade thrower in this class by a mile.

— Took major steps forward as a pure passer in 2023.

— Full-field reader who can go from touchdown to checkdown and vice versa

— Most of his 17 explosive runs last season were by design; he’s not just scrambling and bailing back there.

MINUSES

— There is a Wile E. Coyote aspect to his predilection to take cartoonishly bad hits in the open field. He needs Tua’s ju-jitsu guy.

— Occasional delays in processing will have him making inaccurate throws on easy stuff, especially in quick game.

— Has an extra hitch at times when he’s indecisive that allows coverage to converge. Could throw his receivers open more consistently.

Easy first-pick grade here. This is all subjective, but I can’t think of a 2024 prospect I’d want more in my facility were I a QB coach.