After taking the NFL by storm as a rookie, Jayden Daniels had a sophomore campaign to forget for the Washington Commanders. As the young quarterback looks to get his career back on track, he finds himself compared to one of the league’s most dynamic talents.
On the May 4th edition of ‘NFL Live,’ ESPN’s Tim Hasselbeck weighed in on Daniels heading into his third season with Washington. He is still high on his abilities, drawing similarities to him and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson.
“I think Jayden Daniels is the closest thing to Lamar Jackson in the league,” Hasselbeck said. “In terms of explosiveness and ability.”
Tim Hasselbeck has high praise for the Commanders’ quarterback 🙌
Daniels missed the majority of the 2025 season due to knee and elbow injuries, starting in just seven games for the Commanders. In that stretch, he posted a 2-5 record with 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns.
Now fully healthy again, Daniels will look to get Washington back in a position to compete in the NFC.
NFL Analysts Expects Jayden Daniels to Bounce Back for Commanders in 2026
Through his first two seasons, Daniels has had an extremely polarizing career. He nearly led the Commanders to the Super Bowl as a rookie, and followed it up with an injury-ridden campaign that primarily saw him on the sidelines. Despite how things have played out for him thus far, countless people around the league remain confident in his abilities.
During a recent interview with Scott Abraham, former player turned analyst Louis Riddick opened up on Daniels. He still sees him as an elite QB talent and thinks he’ll return to form in 2026 if he stays healthy.
“He’s a franchise quarterback, simple as that,” Riddick said. “Jayden Daniels hasn’t lost a lick of anything in terms of what ultimately he has in his bag to make him one of the very best quarterbacks in the NFL. I expect him to return to that, provided his health is fine and everything around him doesn’t just fall apart.”
I spoke with @LRiddickESPN about Jayden going into year number 3.
Louis said, “he’s a franchise quarterback. It’s as simple as that.”
Seeing how things have played out for him thus far, Daniels is easily one of the NFL’s top bounce-back players to watch this upcoming season.
Commanders GM Gives Promising Update on Jayden Daniels
Daniels has had an extended period to get himself right physically, and he seems to have made the most of the time off. While appearing on ‘The Insiders’ earlier this week, Commanders GM Adam Peters had a lot of encouraging things to say about the franchise’s starting QB.
“He’s had an incredible offseason,” Peters said of Daniels. “He’s really been diligent about working in the offseason…He’s in great shape. He came back here in phase one, he looks great, he feels great, he’s healthy.”
As the team’s cornerstone talent, the Commanders are only going to go as far as Daniels can take them. With the teams around them continuing to improve, they’re going to need him to get back to the player he was as a rookie if they’re going to be competitive.
Based on Peters’ remarks, it appears as though Daniels is intent on getting back to the level the football world grew accustomed to seeing two years ago.
Commanders Jayden Daniels Compared to Former NFL MVP