Jayden Daniels makes Washington Commanders fans feel good about the future of the team. Taken second overall in the 2024 NFL draft by the Commanders, Daniels immediately made an impact for Washington, as he passed for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns with nine interceptions in his rookie year while also leading his team to its first playoff appearance in five seasons.
The Commanders even made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game. With that, Daniels set high expectations for him.
Living up to the hype is always a big challenge, especially for a young quarterback. Washington running back Austin Ekeler believes that with Daniels, further “growth” is to be expected of the Commanders’ attack that averaged 28.8 points per game in 2024 — sixth-best in the league.
Ekeler speaks highly of Washington Commanders QB
During an interview recently with Sirius XM NFL Radio, Ekeler spoke about Daniels’ rookie season and the exciting outlook of Washington’s offense with the quarterback.
“He crushed it last year,” Ekeler said. (h/t Grant Gordon of NFL.com) “What I see for him going into this year, we have the same offensive coordinator and so bringing that into the mix has now made it, so, now when we go through OTAs, Jayden is already on it. He’s beyond kind of the rookie mistakes and learning the playbook, getting a play called out slow. He’s getting people lined up.
“We got new guys coming in and he’s like, ‘Deebo you are not over here, you’re on that side.’ When you start to see him kind of orchestrating out there, you could tell that there’s that growth. He starts to get more comfortable and that allows him to even play more mentally faster and make better decisions. So, I think there’s even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back. We still have a lot of playmakers. We still have to get Terry paid. Oh man, we are going to be looking like a powerhouse out there.”
Following up on a surprising season with another great one to prove that last year’s was not a fluke will be a big test for Daniels and the Commanders. But at the very least, Washington feels it has the right quarterback for the future.
For More Commanders, NFL and College Football News & Updates:
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) at @Rexwell14. Also, do not forget to regularly check out the latest Gridiron Heroics content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in the world of NFL and college football in terms of transactions, analysis, game previews, free agency, recruitment, transfers, and more, just click here!
