Commanders’ Jayden Daniels Sounds Off On Starting QB Job

The Washington Commanders selected LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick of the NFL Draft late last month, and everyone is thinking that Daniels will be the starter come Week 1.

However, Daniels is not making any assumptions.

When asked about whether or not he expects to be under center for the Commanders’ season opener in September, Daniels was very diplomatic in his response.

“Do I anticipate (starting Week 1)? I mean, I’m confident in my abilities, but that’s a decision that they’ve got to make,” Daniels told Keyshawn Johnson during an appearance on the All Fact No Brakes podcast. “That’s above me.”

Washington traded Sam Howell to the Seattle Seahawks back in March, but it also signed veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota for some insurance.

It’s entirely possible that the Commanders could roll Mariota out to begin the 2024 campaign and then switch to Daniels at some point during the season. Or perhaps Daniels won’t play in 2024 at all?

The latter seems unlikely.

NFL teams have largely shifted toward playing rookie signal-callers right out of the gate, although times may be changing due to the failures of some young quarterbacks in recent years.

That being said, Daniels is certainly one of the more polished quarterbacks to come out of this draft class. He is already 23 years old, and he is coming off of a brilliant 2023 campaign at LSU in which he threw for 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 72.2 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 scores.

Daniels won the Heisman Trophy for his efforts.

“From what I heard, they said whenever I’m ready, I’m ready. So whenever I feel like I’m ready, I’m ready. … They didn’t tell me, ‘Oh, you’ve got to start Week 1.’ They just said, ‘Whenever you’re ready, you’re ready. Whenever you feel ready, we feel you’re ready, we’re gonna throw you out there.'”

It’s hard to imagine that Washington is leaving the decision up to Daniels, but it sounds like the Commanders are leaning toward him as their Week 1 starter.

Daniels actually began his collegiate career at Arizona State back in 2019 and spent three years there before transferring to LSU in 2022.

He did not truly break out with the Tigers—or in general—until this past season.

We’ll see what Jayden Daniels has in store for everyone when 2024 arrives.