The Washington Commanders haven’t kept their promise to Jayden Daniels, but that has to change if, as expected, the franchise quarterback makes his return from injury against the New York Giants in Week 5.
Daniels hasn’t played since dislocating his elbow against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. Yet even before his injury, the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year wasn’t doing the one thing the Commanders spent all offseason advertising about new offensive coordinator David Blough’s schemes.
Blough planned to put the Commanders’ QB1 under center more often. That’s not happening when, as ESPN’s John Keim noted, “Washington ranks 26th in the NFL in QB snaps from under center with 27 (7 more than last season).Thought there would be more; not sure how injuries/score has impacted that number.”
Keim’s right to reference how Daniels’ injury may have impacted Blough’s thinking. A trend of quarterbacks staying removed from center continued with Marcus Mariota and rookie third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis in the lineup.
The problem is Blough began the season barely deploying his under-center schemes. He must flip the script to protect Daniels from further injury.
Particularly if No. 5 faces a Giants’ defense turning up the heat and suddenly finding its groove rushing the passer.
David Blough Must Revive Scheme Change for Jayden Daniels
Head coach Dan Quinn’s already revealed the plan is for Daniels to start against the Giants on Sunday, October 11. That makes doing a better job of protecting the Commanders’ star asset Blough’s priority at Northwest Stadium.
He can start with getting Daniels more experience under center. Numbers from NFL Pro, cited by The Washington Post’s Tashan Reed showed Daniels was in the Shotgun: 49 snaps – Under center: 18 snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.
– Shotgun: 49 snaps – Under center: 18 snaps
Daniels ran 12 times for 100 yards across games against the Eagles and Cowboys, per Pro Football Reference, before injury struck. Blough indulged Daniels’ natural instinct to scramble by keeping him detached from the line of scrimmage.
Putting Daniels closer to the line should mean fewer rushing attempts from the dual-threat signal-caller whose slight frame still prompts concerns about his durability.
Daniels’ early-season scrambles were also a sign the Commanders struggled to keep pass-rushers off the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder. That’s a major concern against a suddenly burgeoning Giants’ pressure front.
Fortunately, Blough can slow the rush by relying on the other benefit of keeping Daniels under center.
Commanders Need 1 Scheme Shift to Handle Giants’ Pass Rush
Blough and Daniels have two things to worry about against the Giants’ defense. The first involves coordinator Dennard Wilson sending pressure at a higher rate.
Wilson “sent more than four rushers on 54% of Jacoby Brissett’s dropbacks” against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4, per Next Gen Stats cited by Keim’s colleague Jordan Raanan.
“It was definitely planned,” John Harbaugh said. They wanted to get the ball out of
Increased blitzing is a problem for a Commanders’ offensive line that couldn’t keep Kaliakmanis clean last week. He was baffled and bruised once Indianapolis Colts’ DC Lou Anarumo started blitzing defenders from multiple angles.
The Giants’ blitz packages will test an O-line flagged for many of the multiple penalties incurred by the Commanders in London. One starter was beyond frustrated by the confusion and ill-discipline, but he’s in for an even tougher matchup this week.
Big Blue edge-rusher Abdul Carter should be the focus of Blough’s protection schemes. Carter “generated nine pressures on 37 pass rushes against the Cardinals,” per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, also citing Next Gen Stats.
That’s a career-high number for Carter, but what’s more impressive is how “Eight of Carter’s nine pressures came within 2.5 seconds, the most quick pressures recorded in a game this season. That was due in part to a 0.70-second pass rush get-off time, which is the 2nd-fastest in a game for Carter in his career.”
The Commanders’ best chance to slow Carter down will be to keep him guessing. Blough can do that by calling more play-action passes.
Play-action concepts were touted as a big part of the changes for Daniels, but he ran just 11 attempts before his latest injury. Increasing that number with Daniels under center is how Blough’s offense should work.
Now it’s a necessity if the Commanders are going to keep Daniels on the field for longer.
Commanders Must Change 1 Stat for Jayden Daniels’ Return