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The Washington Commanders need their entire team to get behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels if he winds up being the team’s starter in 2024.
That might already be happening. One of team’s most respected veterans, linebacker Bobby Wagner, praised Daniels in comments to The Athletic’s Ben Standig in a video posted to X on May 22.
“It’s early, but he shows potential,” Wagner said. “You see the throws. You see the decisions that he’s making. You see the confidence that he has. You see the work that he’s putting in, too. He’s coming in early — whether it’s working out or putting in the film. That’s the thing you look for as a vet, someone who wants it. And he definitely does.”
Wagner signed a 1-year, $6.5 million contract with the Commanders in March. He’s entering his 13th NFL season in 2024 after posting a career-high 183 tackles with the Seattle Seahawks in 2023.
The Commanders selected Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft after he won the Heisman Trophy in 2023 at LSU.
Wagner Played With 2 Potential HOF Quarterbacks
Wagner has experience as a teammate of two of the better quarterbacks in the NFL over the last 20 years and a pair of Super Bowl champions — Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford.
Wagner played with Wilson in Seattle, where they teamed up to win a Super Bowl in 2013. Wagner played one season with Stafford on the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, although Stafford only played nine games before he was sidelined with injury.
Rookie QBs Have Had Success Recently
We don’t need to look any further than the 2023 season to see how a rookie quarterback can turn around the fortunes of an NFL franchise in rapid fashion.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud became an instant star as a rookie after he was selected No. 2 overall out of Ohio State in the 2023 NFL draft, guiding the Texans from a 3-13-1 finish in 2022 to a 10-7 record and the AFC South Division championship in 2023.
Along the way, Stroud set a pair of NFL rookie quarterback records with the most passes without an interception to open an NFL career (186) and the most single-game passing yards for a rookie in NFL history (470).
Stroud also became just the third quarterback in NFL history — regardless of age — to lead the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and touchdown/interception ration (4.6) along with Tom Brady and Joe Montana.
Before Daniels can start setting records, he’ll likely have to win a quarterback battle with another former No. 2 overall pick. The Commanders signed veteran Marcus Mariota to a 1-year, $8.5 million contract in March. Mariota was the No. 2 overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL draft.
The last time the Commanders picked a quarterback as high as Daniels was 2012, when they selected another Heisman winner in Baylor’s Robert Griffin III at No. 2 overall.
Griffin was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl in his first season but never played a full season for Washington because of injuries and was released by Washington after sitting out the entire 2015 season.
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