When Jayden Daniels led the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship game as a rookie — and perhaps even before that — it opened the conversation that he is among the best first-year quarterbacks ever.
This year's NFL MVP voting further validates that argument.
In addition to Daniels winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors —receiving 49 of 50 first-place votes — the gifted signal-caller also got eight points on the MVP ballot. He earned two fourth-place votes and four fifth-place recognitions. The former LSU star becomes the second rookie in two years, joining C.J. Stroud in 2023, to earn MVP votes as a rookie.
AP NFL Most Valuable Player voting:
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 7, 2025
Josh Allen: 27-22-1-0-0: 383
Lamar Jackson: 23-26-0-1-0: 362
Saquon Barkley: 0-1-25-19-2: 120
Joe Burrow: 0-1-15-10-12: 82
Jared Goff: 0-0-6-5-19: 47
Patrick Mahomes: 0-0-3-8-6: 31
Ja'Marr…
Daniels' point total doubled that of Stroud, who earned four.
It is worth noting that the NFL's ranked-choice voting system for MVP and other awards was only implemented in 2022. There were only first-place votes before that. This means that rookie seasons such as Justin Herbert in 2020, Dak Prescott in 2016, and Robert Griffin III in 2012, went unrecognized.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels had a rookie campaign for the ages
The Heisman Trophy winner's sensational rookie season speaks for itself. He passed for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 69 percent of his throws. He rushed for 891 more yards (a record for first-year quarterbacks) and six additional scores on the ground. He never lost a single fumble. Daniels was awarded Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week 11 times, breaking the previous record of nine held by ex-Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger.
More importantly, he became the sixth different rookie to take his team to the NFC or AFC Championship game. All of the previous five did so with top-three scoring defenses to back them up. Daniels' ranked 18th.
Daniels was drafted to a team that had won four games the previous year and led them to a 12-5 record before picking up two additional playoff triumphs. He did this with a rebuilding roster, no reliable wide receiver weapons aside from Terry McLaurin, and glaring holes on the offensive line and across Washington's defense.
If anything, it can be argued that Daniels should have received even more recognition in the NFL MVP race than his seventh-place finish.
He had a better statistical season than Patrick Mahomes (more total yards and touchdowns), who finished directly above him in sixth place. Daniels was much more important to his team's success than Jared Goff, who came in fifth.
The fact that Daniels earned MVP votes at all only confirms a narrative that has existed since late in the season. This was the greatest campaign by a first-year NFL quarterback of all time.