Say what you want about Jay Gruden, but the former Washington head coach knows football—specifically offensive football. Gruden, a former college quarterback and Arena League MVP, was known for his work developing quarterbacks after getting into coaching.
These days, Gruden is an NFL analyst for Underdog Sports and co-hosts the “Clean Pocket” podcast with former NFL players Colt McCoy, AQ Shipley, and Justin Pugh.
Gruden also joins local Washington D.C. radio stations weekly to discuss the NFL and, specifically, his former team. He’s a huge fan of Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Every week, Gruden praises his former team, especially the rookie quarterback.
In the latest episode of his podcast, they discuss this week’s matchup between the Chicago Bears and Washington. The game, of course, features the top two players selected in the 2024 NFL draft: Caleb Williams and Daniels.
This led McCoy to ask his co-hosts: Daniels or Williams?
Gruden chose Daniels.
“Jayden has been tremendous to me,” Gruden said. “In all phases, in the pocket, outside the pocket, the zone reads, the QB-designed runs, he’s been awesome. Caleb has more arm talent; he can sling it a little further. Jayden, on the other hand, I just feel like I like his poise, his leadership just a little bit better. There’s a lot of things going on that they’re asking Jayden to do right now that he has performed at a very high level. You don’t see any mistakes.”
Gruden made it clear you can’t go wrong with either player, but his pick of Daniels aligns with everything he says each week when discussing the Commanders’ young signal-caller.
More from Gruden on Daniels:
“I don’t see any flaws in his game, I really don’t,” Gruden said. “He sees well. He’s accurate, he anticipates throws, he can run, and he avoids pressure; their offense is damn near unstoppable.”
Now, the biggest question is whether we will see Daniels play this week. He injured his ribs in Sunday’s win over Carolina and did not return. As of now, the Commanders are listing him “week to week,” and he missed Wednesday’s practice.