Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Know Your Enemy – Jayden Daniels

Posted September 8th, 2026 | No Comments »

Washington QB Jayden Daniels had an amazing rookie season. He threw for 25 TDs and finished with a passer rating of 100.1. He ran for 891 yards and 6 TDs. Daniels led the Commanders to a 12-5 record and they made it all the way to the NFC Championship. Then they ran into the buzz saw known as the 2024 Eagles.

Daniels got a ton of praise for his instant success. He was a Top 10 QB on all the lists. Some had him as Top 5. He was the guy that looked like the future of the league. And then 2025 happened.

Oops.

Daniels led Washington to a win in the opener and played pretty well. They lost to the Packers in Week 2 and Daniels got hurt. He came back in Week 5 and led the team to a win over the Chargers. That was the last game Daniels won. He finished the season 2-5 as a starter. He suffered multiple injuries and missed most of the season. When he was “healthy”, his play wasn’t the same. He only threw 8 TDs. His completion percentage fell to 60.6. He only ran for 278 yards and 2 TDs. Daniels went from dynamic to meh.

One of the key concerns when Daniels came out was if he could handle the physicality of the NFL. He’s got a tall, thin build. He is a mobile QB and likes to run aggressively. That play style leads to some big hits and tough moments. Last year it led to injuries. He had knee issues, hamstring problems and finally an elbow injury that ended his season.

What do we expect heading int 2026?

Daniels will be playing in a new offensive system. Washington promoted David Blough to be their OC. He’s installing an offense that he learned from Ben Johnson while they were together in Detroit. That means Daniels will be going from the offenses he ran in college to the college-like offense Kliff Kingsbury used in 2024/2025 to a true NFL offense that uses huddles and under center looks. That won’t be the easiest transition.

Daniels also might be changing the way he plays. He wants to use his legs because he understands they are such a special weapon, but he also wants to be more judicious because he doesn’t want to get hurt. That is a challenging balance. It will be interesting to see how he plays. Complicating matterts is the fac that the offensive line really stuggled this summer. If they can’t protect him very well, Daniels will have to run.

There is no question that Daniels is still a very talented player. But QBs can be erratic, good and bad. CJ Stroud was great as a rookie and then struggled in the ensuing seasons. Sam Darnold struggled early in his career and then led Seattle to a Super Bowl win last year. QBs need the right situation around the to be at their best. They need the right coach/system. They need the right combination of protection and weapons.

Is Blough the right coach? Does Daniels have a good enough OL? Does he have the right weapons? We can only speculate right now because there are so many unknown factors. Washington made a lot of changes this offseason. Having LT Laremy Tunsil out for the season really hurts. Outsiders think Washington will be bad. Coach Dan Quinn is optimistic. That might be blind optimism based on the lack of top talent.

This will be an interesting and important season for the Commanders. They aren’t likely to win a lot of games, but they would love to see Daniels play well so that they can know he’s the guy to build around going forward. I think Daniels will be more good than bad, but he’s a young QB coming off an injury and learning a new system. There are going to be ups and downs. Will that affect his confidence? Will that change his style of play at times? We will learn a lot about Daniels this season.

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Daniels having to open the season against a loaded Eagles defense isn’t ideal for Washington, especially behind a questionable OL. The one advantage is that the Eagles won’t have good game tape to study. Washington limited their playbook in the preseason. The Eagles faced the Lions offense last year so they know the basic system, but they don’t know about Blough as a play-caller or how the offense will look with Daniels running it. I think it is fair to say he’s just a tad different from Jared Goff.

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