Around a decade ago, the topic of sliding was popular surrounding a young Washington quarterback. Robert Griffin III had a phenomenal rookie season for Washington in 2012 until a significant knee injury in the Wild-Card round of the NFC playoffs changed his and the team’s trajectory.
Throughout his time in Washington, Griffin was asked about sliding. Ultimately, his time with the team ended after four years, and it had nothing to do with learning how to slide.
Now, the Commanders have another franchise quarterback who is an electric runner. Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy last season after passing for almost 4,000 yards, rushing for over 1,100, and scoring nearly 50 touchdowns.
Daniels is now the present and future in Washington. The Commanders want Daniels to take advantage of his dual-threat ability but also exercise caution. In Saturday’s preseason game against the Dolphins, Daniels took off running near the Washington sideline, where he was tackled after a solid gain. Head coach Dan Quinn immediately let Daniels know he needed to avoid the unnecessary hit, and Daniels knew it, too.
Quinn joked about it after the game, but he clearly prefers Daniels to either slide or go out of bounds.
During his press conference on Monday after being named the starting quarterback, a reporter asked Daniels if he ever practiced sliding.
“Nah, I haven’t,” Daniels said.
There shouldn’t be any alarm bells here. Daniels has been faster than everyone throughout his high school and college career. He didn’t need to slide. Things are a bit different now. The Commanders don’t plan on running Daniels often but want him to be careful when he does take off.
So, it may be time for Daniels to take a crash course in sliding. Perhaps his good friend, Washington Nationals’ top prospect Dylan Crews, could give him a lesson.