Commanders QB Jayden Daniels tipped for major accolade in 2024

Despite the speculation and hearsay surrounding Jayden Daniels during the pre-draft process, the Washington Commanders were highly confident that his ability and leadership could springboard the franchise back to prominence. The quarterback comes into the league after taking college football by storm en route to a Heisman Trophy in 2023. Anything similar in the pros will be highly beneficial to the team's long-term aspirations.

Daniels is fully committed to repaying the faith shown in him by the Commanders. He's currently getting into the playbook and gearing up for rookie minicamp, which is the first step to what will hopefully become a smooth transition to become Washington's starter in Week 1.

Commanders QB Jayden Daniels could win OROY in 2024

Big things are expected of Daniels considering where he was drafted and the exceptional attributes at his disposal. This was a sentiment echoed by Bucky Brooks from FOX Sports, who tipped the former LSU star to potentially secure NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors if everything clicks immediately with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

The analyst even projected him to blow Kyle Murray's first-year stats out of the water for good measure.

"If Kliff Kingsbury follows the blueprint that helped Kyler Murray win 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, [Jayden] Daniels could also walk away with some hardware at the end of the 2024 regular season. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder is a playmaking machine with elite traits as a passer and runner. Daniels can carve up defenders with surgical precision from the pocket or create chaos on the perimeter as a dynamic scrambler with exceptional speed, quickness, and burst. After watching Kingsbury quickly build an offense around a similar athlete in Arizona that resulted in a QB1 producing 3,500-plus pass yards and 500-plus rush yards with 20-plus total touchdowns, Daniels could blow those numbers out of the water directing a fast-break offense that fully utilizes his skills a dual-threat playmaker."

This is a high bar for which to aim. But there's nothing to suggest Daniels isn't capable of such feats.

His talent is unquestioned. Daniels has everything one looks for in a modern-day quarterback. If he can stay clear of injury with such a slender frame, a productive career won't be too far behind.

For all Daniels' gifts, he cannot do it alone.

The Commanders need to protect him effectively - which is a concern when one looks at the team's offensive tackle options currently. They also need more from their pass-catchers, with only Terry McLaurin emerging as a consistent presence last season. The new additions should help, but things must mesh quickly in the coming months for the signal-caller to get a fighting chance of making a go of things.

The Commanders have 100 percent confidence in Daniels. They feel like his quiet charisma, inner drive, and on-field dynamism can turn this newfound sense of optimism into something more. There will be indifferent times right out of the gate - which is the norm for first-year quarterbacks - but there is also a growing sense of optimism Washington has something special on its hands.

If Brooks is correct in his assumption of Daniels' immediate potential impact, the football landscape in the nation's capital will change in the blink of an eye.