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Of all the people who have come out of the woodwork to praise Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels — and there have been a lot of them — this one might be one of the most unexpected.
Former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera went out of his way to praise Daniels, the favorite for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, during an interview with SportsCasting.com’s DJ Siddiqi.
Rivera coached the Commanders for 4 seasons, from 2020 to 2023, and was fired in January 2024 after going 4-13 in 2023 — the reason Washington had the No. 2 overall pick they used to select Daniels in the 2024 NFL draft.
“It’s one of those things that you always talk about that really good players raise those around him and that’s what you’ve seen him do,” Rivera told Siddiqi. “You’ve seen him help improve the play of the offense as a whole. It’s because of his play on offense, the offense is playing well, it’s raised their defense. That’s what you look for in quality players is just how they affect the team? This young man affects the team that way.”
Rivera went 26-40-1 in 4 seasons as Washington’s head coach, including leading the team to its last postseason berth in 2020.
Rivera’s Tumultuous Time With Commanders
While there’s no reason to make excuses for Rivera’s failure in Washington, it’s worth pointing out he spent almost a decade as one of the NFL’s elite head coaches with the Carolina Panthers from 2011 to 2019 and was one of the league’s best defensive assistants and defensive coordinators for a decade before that.
While he was in Carolina, Rivera led the Panthers to the playoffs 4 times and was named NFL Coach of the Year twice, in 2013 and again in 2015 after the Panthers went 15-1 and lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. Rivera went 76-63-1 in Carolina and was fired after a 5-7 start in 2019.
Rivera, who won a Super Bowl as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears in 1985, went 26-40-1 as the head coach of the Commanders.
Daniels Still Favorite for NFL Offensive ROY
VegasInsider.com has Daniels as the favorite to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, where he’s just slightly ahead of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
Daniels has led the Commanders to a 9-5 start — their first winning season since 2016 — and they control their own destiny when it comes to making the playoffs for the first time since Rivera was there.
None of the four first round picks under Rivera from 2020 to 2023 are still on the roster for the Commanders, although defensive end and 2020 No. 2 overall pick Chase Young was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The last Washington player to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year was quarterback Robert Griffin III — yet another No. 2 overall pick — in 2012.
“I’m still going to lean towards (Daniels) as of right now,” says Rivera. “I think Jayden does some really good things. He’s got a good cast around him as well. Bo is a deserving candidate as well. It’s going to be fun, it’s going to come down to the end of the year, the last couple of games.”
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