Jayden Daniels dragged the Washington Commanders into the postseason. When the team needed its franchise player to come through, he rose to the occasion and delivered with supreme poise and confidence beyond his years.
Daniels is not your average rookie. He's a legitimate franchise-caliber presence under center that can take the Commanders back into contention. Things have gone much better than anticipated in Year 1 for the new regime. Once general manager Adam Peters surrounds him with more prolific weapons, the sky's the limit.
The job is not finished for Washington by any stretch of the imagination. One more effort is needed at the Dallas Cowboys to secure the sixth seed. Daniels is also looking to right a wrong following an indifferent performance versus their NFC East rivals earlier in the campaign — albeit with a rib injury attached at the time.
Dan Quinn wants the Commanders to finish strongly and ensure complacency doesn't become an issue. He shouldn't have anything to worry about in that regard, especially where the newly crowned Pro Bowler is concerned.
As it turned out, Daniels was not at his brilliant best and got a shorter workload than usual as the Commanders prioritized health over winning with the playoffs upcoming.
With this in mind, here are five major observations from Daniels' performance at AT&T Stadium to conclude Washington's regular-season commitments.
Major observations from Jayden Daniels' performance at the Cowboys
Jayden Daniels' pocket comfort
The Washington Commanders were depleted on the offensive line with starting center Tyler Biadasz and veteran tackle Cornelius Lucas both missing from the lineup. This impacted Jayden Daniels' pocket comfort considerably.
Daniels was under duress from the opening snap. Micah Parsons gained two sacks on the opening drive and Washington conceded four in total over the opening two quarters. The dual-threat signal-caller never looked comfortable and there was a distinct lack of trust in his protection for arguably the first time this season.
This caused a ripple effect. Daniels was a little more hesitant than usual, focusing his attention on evading pressure rather than keeping his eyes downfield. It's a trend that cannot continue if Washington wants to make some noise in the playoffs.