Easy. Simple. Smooth.
If those words apply to your NFL quarterback, you have a good one.
It’s only been five games, but those descriptive words certainly apply to Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels. Some young quarterbacks make it look laborious to play the position, but he makes it seem effortless at times — even when he’s being chased and hit.
As the second player taken in last year’s NFL Draft, he has quickly showed to be a quick study on playing the most important position in sports, so much so that he’s actually being mentioned as a potential MVP candidate.
The Commanders have won four consecutive games to get to 4-1 and lead the NFC East. In doing so, they are the highest-scoring team in the league at 31.0 points per game. Daniels has 1,135 passing yards, four touchdown passes, two picks and a passer rating of 106.3. He has also rushed for 300 yards and four touchdowns. He is the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 1,000 yards and rush for at least 250 in his first five career games.
Daniels has the Commanders up to sixth in my Power Rankings this week as they head to a monster Beltway Battle with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. We will find out a lot about the rookie quarterback and this team when they play the Ravens.
I had Daniels ranked as my top quarterback in the 2024 draft — you can look it up — and the reason was simple: He was a pure passer who could move. The doubters wondered if he would be physical enough, but he has already disproved that notion with his ability to stand in and make throws staring down the rush.
Daniels played at Arizona State, which is my alma mater, for two years. He flashed, but he was inconsistent. When he transferred to LSU, he improved greatly, so much so that I said leading into the draft that he was the most-improved player I’ve ever seen in the draft process. The NFL people I trust told me he was a fiend when it came to preparation and work. That sold me on him.
Combine that with an offensive coordinator in Kliff Kingsbury who is playing to his strengths, and it’s easy to see why it’s working for Daniels in his first five games. Studying the Commanders tape, which I broke down on for our CBSSportsHQ pre-game show this past Sunday, the thing that stood out was how Kingsbury has adapted his offense to make it work and to make it easy on Daniels, who excels with RPO concepts.
Daniels and Kingsbury have taken an offense that had questions, especially up front, and turned it into one of the most-explosive we’ve ever seen. Great quarterbacks cure ills and bad ones expose them.
Daniels is curing them. That’s why he’s in the MVP conversation. If he does play well this week, and outplays Lamar Jackson, then that talk will be even louder.
The Commanders haven’t exactly beaten up on good teams — the combined record of the teams they’ve beaten is 6-14. But the schedule after Baltimore is Carolina, Chicago and the Giants. This team has a schedule and a quarterback that should make it a playoff team.
It’s amazing what a special quarterback can do for a franchise. The Commanders fans need to understand that those years of worrying about the position are over. You have your guy for the next decade plus. Enjoy it. It’s going to be a heck of a run.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
No Rashee Rice. No big deal. The staff came up with a great plan to attack the Saints, and Patrick Mahomes threw for more than 300 yards. They are just fine as they head to their bye. | — | 5-0-0 |
2 |
|
The offense showed some flaws against the Jets, but the defense came up big again. Brian Flores is doing one heck of a job with that unit. | — | 5-0-0 |
3 |
|
They seem to find a way each week to win close games, which is a sign of a good team. We still haven’t seen their best yet. | — | 4-1-0 |
4 |
|
They come off their bye with a big road game at Dallas against the Cowboys. Here’s hoping they worked on their secondary play since they needed it. | 1 | 3-1-0 |
5 |
|
Lamar Jackson bailed them out against the Bengals, but the defense has been an issue this season. The pass defense has to tighten up. | 1 | 3-2-0 |
6 |
|
They are the surprise of the league, but they haven’t exactly beaten up on good teams during their four-game winning streak. They get the Ravens this week in a real prove-it game. | 2 | 4-1-0 |
7 |
|
They are 3-2 and still have not played their best football. Jordan Love isn’t close to being what he was last season as he recovers from a knee injury — but he will get there. | 3 | 3-2-0 |
8 |
|
It’s funny how two road losses can change the narrative about this team. They are still the team to beat in the AFC East, but the road game against the Jets this week will tell a lot about this group. | 1 | 3-2-0 |
9 |
|
At 3-2, that was a big-time road victory over the Steelers on Sunday night. It wasn’t pretty, but the defense showed up despite all the injuries, which was big. | 4 | 3-2-0 |
10 |
|
Kirk Cousins was outstanding in beating the Bucs. But the Falcons need to improve on the defensive side or he’s going to have to throw it 45 times a game to win. | 5 | 3-2-0 |
11 |
|
They are 3-2 and Caleb Williams is getting better by the week. This has to be considered a good start for head coach Matt Eberflus as they head to London to play the Jaguars. | 3 | 3-2-0 |
12 |
|
The defense has become a problem the past two weeks. I know they have some injuries there, but it has to be better than it was against the Malik Nabers-less Giants this past week. | 1 | 3-2-0 |
13 |
|
The defensive injuries caught up with them in a big way in the loss to the Falcons. Even so, they still probably should have won the game. | 9 | 3-2-0 |
14 |
|
At 2-3, they have problems. Forget about the injuries. They keep teams in games because the offense isn’t scoring enough and the defense isn’t up to standards. | 2 | 2-3-0 |
15 |
|
The offense didn’t do enough against an undermanned Dallas defense. They’ve lost two straight to cool that fast start. Is a quarterback change coming? | 6 | 3-2-0 |
16 |
|
They come off their bye in need of victory in the worst way to cool the heat on Nick Sirianni. Jalen Hurts needs to be better. | — | 2-2-0 |
17 |
|
Sean Payton has this team at 3-2 and in the AFC playoff race. They are playing outstanding defense and Bo Nix is playing better each week. | — | 3-2-0 |
18 |
|
At 2-3, they have an enormous division game this week against the Bills. The offense is too limited right now in large part because the line is struggling. | — | 2-3-0 |
19 |
|
The Saints have lost two straight, and now at 2-3, they have issues with Derek Carr banged up some. They face a big division game against Tampa Bay this week. | — | 2-3-0 |
20 |
|
They battled through a bunch of major injuries before their bye, but some of those players are expected back this week against Denver. Quarterback Justin Herbert probably needed the bye as much as anybody to help heal his injured ankle. | — | 2-2-0 |
21 |
|
Rallying to beat the 49ers on the road says a lot about this team after Washington blew them out last week. At 2-3, they are in the division race. | 3 | 2-3-0 |
22 |
|
They are 2-3 in large part because the defense has major issues. The pass defense is a problem and keeps showing up in a negative way. | 1 | 2-3-0 |
23 |
|
Give Brian Daboll credit for winning at Seattle. They actually dominated for much of the game, which is a good sign for him. The defense impressed. | 3 | 2-3-0 |
24 |
|
At 1-4, they are in a big hole in the division. The offense can score on anybody, but the defense is bad right now. As Joe Burrow said, they are not a championship team right now. | 2 | 1-4-0 |
25 |
|
It looks like the Gardner Minshew era is a short one. He was benched at Denver — and rightfully so. It’s time to give Aiden O’Connell a shot. | 2 | 2-3-0 |
26 |
|
They just don’t have enough healthy starters right now, which is why they head to their bye at 1-4. The good news is the division isn’t very good right now, either. | 1 | 1-4-0 |
27 |
|
They come off their bye with a division game against the Colts. The health of quarterback Will Levis bears watching this week. | — | 1-3-0 |
28 |
|
Finding a way to win an ugly game at New England was big for this group. They are still way too limited on offense. | — | 2-3-0 |
29 |
|
They saved their season by beating the Colts and now must win two in London to have a chance to do anything this season. Trevor Lawrence came alive against the Colts. | 3 | 1-4-0 |
30 |
|
It’s time to make a quarterback change. Deshaun Watson isn’t getting it done. Play Jameis Winston. | 1 | 1-4-0 |
31 |
|
It’s time. Get on with it. Drake Maye has to take over. There is no reason to wait. | 1 | 1-4-0 |
32 |
|
So much for Andy Dalton rescuing this team. They are bad and they will get worse as the season moves along. It will be a long first year for Dave Canales. | 1 | 1-4-0 |
