The Commanders have a new head coach and, more importantly, a new quarterback, no. 2 Choose Daniels. How is the rookie settling in as Washington’s new QB1?
Washington’s commanders will clash. On the training ground, at least. Throughout my visit to the first day of the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, I heard the word “competition” dozens of times. With Pete Carroll disciple Dan Quinn taking over as head coach in 2024, it’s no surprise that this has become the most popular word in Ashburn, Virginia.
“Coach Quinn and the whole staff really applied, not only the effort, but the competition aspect of football,” said wide receiver Terry McLaurin, the team’s best and highest paid player, after the training on Tuesday. “We’re in practice now, and guys get really upset when the offense loses a day or the defense loses a day. I’m a long way from university, but this reminds me a lot of the days when we followed each other to university.
The best example of this new competitive spirit came after an interception caught by newcomer Jeremy Chinn. The defense stormed the field in celebration, which ended when Chinn and a defensive assistant performed an overhead chest strike. It’s still June, but Quinn’s message seems be working.
The head coach and competitive spirit aren’t the only newcomers to Ashburn, of course. The team’s most important acquisition this offseason was number. Second pick, quarterback Jayden Daniels, whose performance in 2024 will determine whether Washington’s competitiveness carries over from the practice field to the NFC East standings. Whether Daniels is a quarterback capable of elevating this moribund franchise won’t be proven in early June, but this is the time of year when a rookie quarterback can earn the respect of his teammates. Based on early reviews, it’s a box the 23-year-old Heisman winner has already checked.
“He takes things in a way that I think a lot of rookies should take,” guard Nick Allegretti said. “He feels it, he feels what his role is (in the locker room). And then when he’s on the field, he takes on that leadership role, and it’s been great so far. It’s early, but I really like what I saw.
If there’s one player on the Commanders who should be wary of the team’s latest “QB of the future,” it’s McLaurin. He arrived in Washington in 2019 with his Ohio State quarterback, the late Dwayne Haskins, who started 13 games in 2019 and 2020 and was released before the end of his sophomore season. The team tried to make Taylor Heinicke a thing in 2021, and when that (predictably) didn’t go well, the solution was to trade for Carson Wentz. It didn’t take long before Wentz was benched and rookie Sam Howell got a chance in the final game of the 2022 season. He played well enough that Ron Rivera gambled on his job security that Howell would become The Guy last season. A productive start to the season led some in Washington to shop Howell as a long-term answer. He led the league in passing yards after 10 weeks, so the optimism wasn’t completely illusory, but it quickly dissipated as Howell’s play (and pocket presence) declined.
Daniels is the third quarterback drafted by Washington since McLaurin joined the team. This isn’t the first time the recipient has seen a recruit go through the onboarding process, and he was impressed with how Daniels went about it.
“He does a great job of getting the most out of his reps (for) what he needs to accomplish,” McLaurin said. “He’s going to be a really good player because of the time and work he puts in. I don’t think I’ve had a young quarterback come in and within the first week he’s like, ‘Hey, can we Do we get that route or get that rep after practice?’
Quinn praised Daniels’ preparation and said Washington was able to install most of the offense by the time the team took the field for minicamp. Allegretti, a free agent signed by the Chiefs, joked that he began to question his own commitment because of how often Daniels beat him in the facilities.
“I’m one of the first guys,” said Allegretti, who won three Super Bowls in five years in Kansas City. “I haven’t been here before him yet. He always arrives early, watches film with the coaches in the quarterback room or hangs out in the locker room talking to the guys. He is often present in the establishment.
McLaurin said the rookie meshes well with all position groups on the offense, which can be a difficult thing to achieve, especially for young quarterbacks. This was manifested during field exercises, which included a competition (drink) 11-on-11 session. Daniels shared it with his teammates along the sideline while remaining engaged in the action on the field when the second and third units were on the field. Washington worked on some rushing situations, and Daniels had no problem getting the first team to the line of scrimmage in a timely manner and making sure all of his teammates were properly aligned.
As for the play on the court, Daniels was pretty solid when working 11-on-11 during Tuesday’s practice. The offense operated largely from the shotgun and worked on zone read style plays. The structure of the passing games was similar to what we saw from new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona: spread formations, three- and four-receiver sets, and lots of quick throws based on timing. Daniels didn’t push the ball down the field too often, which was one of his strengths at LSU, but his overall performance in practice is what you’d expect based on the tape he played. he produced at the university. He scrambled several times and generally threw the ball accurately. He threw a nice moving downfield ball that was caught along the sideline, but that was the only highlight of note. This was the first time Daniels was able to deal with a true pass rush from the first-team defensive line, and it showed at times when he looked down and looked to rush multiple times. repeated during non-contact exercises.
It was a solid performance for a rookie quarterback in his first real practice. Daniels showed some of the talents that led to him being drafted with the second pick, but he’ll have to work on a lot of things if he wants to make us believers this fall. If we take his teammates’ word for it, Daniels is up to the task.