Washington Commanders star Jayden Daniels was easily the best rookie quarterback in Week 1, easily outperforming Caleb Williams and Bo Nix. However, that season-opening performance that delighted fantasy football managers might not be a sign of things to come.
Daniels wasn’t particularly effective through the air, finishing with just 184 passing yards and 0 touchdowns on 24 attempts. He was also sacked twice behind the Commanders offensive line and the team’s game plan rarely allowed for the rookie to take shots downfield.
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- Jayden Daniels stats (ESPN): 184 passing yards, 70.8% completion rate, 93.1 QB rating, 88 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry, 2 rushing touchdowns
However, Daniels rushed for 88 yards with 2 touchdowns. He finished second among quarterbacks in rushing yards, behind only Lamar Jackson (122) and had the most carries (16) at his position. He finished with the third-most fantasy points at quarterback among ESPN’s fantasy football points leaders for Week 1.
However, following the game, Commanders’ head coach Dan Quinn made it clear that the volume of carries Daniels had in Week 1 is not what the team wants to see moving forward.
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“We’d love to see him remain a passer first. I think it’s going to come with more experience, honestly. When I can go extend it to throw it, when, ‘Hey, this plays over, I’ll get rid of it and move on to the next play.’ So, I think you’ll see that trajectory continue as we go. Certainly, [16] carries is not the model that we’re looking for, certainly with Brian [Robinson] and Austin [Ekeler] and others here. But at the end of it, I do think we’ll continue to grow in that spot. But certainly not by design to have that many.”
Washington Commanders HC Dan Quinn on QB Jayden Daniels (H/T NBC Sports)
Daniels is the new face of the Commanders’ franchise and his dual-threat ability means he is the caliber of quarterback who can carry an entire offense. Washington knows how important he is to their success this season, but more importantly, long term.
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Protecting Daniels is the No. 1 priority, but that also comes at a cost. According to Pro Football Focus, Daniels finished Week 1 with the fourth-highest rate of throws behind the line of scrimmage (29.2 percent) and 50 percent of his throws were between 0-9 yards within the line of scrimmage.
This is because the Commanders’ offensive line is one of the worst in the NFL and slower-developing passing plays greatly increase the risk of Daniels getting hit or sacked. If Washington’s coaching staff is going to encourage Daniels to run less, that could mean more throwaways and dump-off passes instead of scrambles. If that happens, it will come at the expense of Daniels’ fantasy managers.
