Commanders news: Ben Johnson, Ron Rivera, Jayden Daniels and busy times

Commanders linked (again) with Jayden Daniels

Getting a new head coach into the building this week will officially turn everyone's attention to the player recruitment side of things. The Washington Commanders have a plethora of draft picks and the league's most salary-cap space as it stands. This puts them in a good position to speed up their rebuild if the correct foundations are laid.

This all starts at the quarterback position. Sam Howell's future looks bleak after things didn't go his way over the second half of the season. The Commanders have the No. 2 overall selection, probably leading them to one of the more gifted signal-callers emerging from the college ranks this spring.

Although many expect the Commanders to take Drake Maye - especially if Ben Johnson becomes head coach - Josh Edwards from CBS Sports was the latest to link Washington with Jayden Daniels in his latest mock draft.

"To this point, I think everyone's assumption has been that Drake Maye is going to be taken second once Caleb Williams is gone. While I do believe that is the most likely outcome, it would be naïve not to acknowledge that other possibilities exist. Jayden Daniels had a better season in 2023 than Maye."

- Josh Edwards, CBS Sports

Daniels has some significant momentum after a sensational season at LSU that finished with a deserved Heisman Trophy. It took the prospect a while to put everything together, but he's got the physical attributes normally associated with modern-day quarterbacks and will come under scrutiny from the Commanders' perspective as part of their thorough evaluations.