Jayden Daniels Has Brought The Commanders To Life

Being an NFL Draft nerd is fun but pessimistic work. It begins with the idea that most of the cool things you see happening in Baton Rouge or Columbus on Saturday are not things that ever can or will happen on Sunday. That isn’t an unreasonable way to go about eating tape: A perfectly blocked run in college football ends with a house call; a perfectly blocked run in the NFL probably means it’s second-and-6. But sometimes, in all the skepticism, you lose sight of the good stuff, especially so with guys like Jayden Daniels, who was mostly a pile of subordinate clauses in my mind before he ever made an NFL start. But he gets cartoonishly lit up all the time! But his pressure-to-sack ratio! But his age! I forget that there's supposed to be something on the first end of the sentence. 

Here are some complete and completely crazy sentences: The Washington Commanders offense works on Sundays. They are an absolute pleasure to watch. I believe they are going to score every time they take the field. Through the first four weeks of the season, no NFL offense was better at keeping drives alive. Against the Browns on Sunday—actually an iffy offensive performance by their own recent standards—the Commanders still dominated, 34-13. For the third straight week, they put up 30 or more points, and they did it this time against Cleveland's legit defense. (It didn't hurt that the Browns offense asks the defense to spend roughly 90 percent of each game on the field.) That Daniels had the worst game of his pro career, recorded his lowest completion percentage, and was pulled after the third quarter in Week 5 probably would not register as a concern to anyone familiar with the Commanders and their deal, historically speaking. That the rookie QB spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench because the Commanders led the Browns, 34-6, is an altogether different story.

Daniels, who somehow managed more scoring drives than total incompletions through the first four weeks of the seasons, wasn't as efficient in Week 5. He finished 14-of-25 for 238 passing yards, and Cleveland's defense was able to take away the simpler underneath stuff early on. But a few explosive plays under pressure made the down-to-down issues matter less. In the second quarter, Daniels escaped a blitz on fourth-and-3, picking up the first down and much more with a 34-yard run.

Daniels's gifts as a dual threat stood out in this game—he rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries—but his signature deep ball has translated, too. In his postgame press conference, he explained a pair of plays in the Commanders' last drive before halftime. On the first play, which ended with Daniels scrambling out of bounds for a short gain, you could see him telling offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury something as he ran back onto the field. “I was turning back around, saying ‘Man, let’s take a shot’ to Kliff,” Daniels said. “And he called the play and we did it.” On the next, Dyami Brown beat his man for a 41-yard touchdown.

Not that a totally dysfunctional Deshaun Watson could capitalize, but Washington's defense has been among the weakest in the NFL so far this season. The team has compensated by keeping the offense on the field. After two successful conversions yesterday, the Commanders are a perfect 8-for-8 on fourth-down attempts this season. An option like Daniels certainly helps in those situations, and it's hard to disentangle him from everything else that's working for Washington. Sam Howell's generational sack-taking ability did not flatter the Commanders' offensive line last season; this year, rebuilt and with a quarterback who can keep plays alive, they grade out as the best run-blocking unit in the NFL.

Perhaps some credit is even due to Kingsbury, who returned to the league after a dismal head coaching experience with the Arizona Cardinals. If he offers little in the way of charisma, he at least knows how to call a fun game—or how to let his quarterback call one, anyway.