Which NFL rookie quarterback will have the most passing yards this upcoming season?
That was the question asked on Friday’s Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio and Charean Williams.
The top three projected to possibly throw for the most yards in 2024 were Washington’s Jayden Daniels, Chicago’s Caleb Williams and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy.
Williams: “I think the Bears have a real problem if it is not Caleb Williams. It means he was either hurt or not as good as everyone thinks he is. I would expect him to have a huge year with the offense that he is stepping into. No rookie quarterback has ever stepped into an offense with two 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-thousand-yard running back like D’Andre Swift. So, he has the offense. Now, it is up to him to get it done. With those weapons, I don’t see how he is not going to have a big year.”
Florio: “I’ll go Williams just because I think Jayden Daniels may end up pulling the ball down and running it more because he’s going to be able to run around guys. He’s the guy when we were at the Scouting Combine talking to defensive players from the SEC, ‘Who is the toughest player you faced in college?’ And they would say Jayden Daniels simply because he is there, and then he is gone. When you have that level of physical separation, where you can just take off, he may end up having a lot of passing yards turn into running yards. That’s going to be the challenge, I think, to strike a balance. When do you run, and when do you throw? He’s going to be inclined I think, especially as a rookie to just show what he can do and he’s going to do some great things on the ground and that’s going to take away from his passing.”
Williams: “I was just going to say it’s going to be like Kyler Murray, probably with Jayden Daniels (in Kyler Murray’s first year). So you do have to find that balance.”
Indeed, Daniels’ rushing numbers were phenomenal in his last LSU season. In 2023, he ran the ball 135 times for 1,134 yards (8.4) and ten rushing touchdowns.