Commanders Officially Name Jayden Daniels Starting Quarterback

The Jayden Daniels era has officially begun in Washington.

On Monday, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn officially named rookie No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels as the team’s starting quarterback. Daniels will make his regular season NFL debut in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This move doesn’t come as a surprise, as Daniels was expected to get the reins in Washington the moment the Commanders selected him with the second overall pick.

Daniels is coming off a 2023 season at LSU in which he won the Heisman trophy, throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also ran for another 1,134 yards with 10 touchdowns on the ground. Daniels was the second quarterback taken in the NFL Draft, as the Chicago Bears took Caleb Williams No. 1 overall. Both quarterbacks will be starting in Week 1 of the regular season.

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The Commanders signed veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota early in free agency, but he was never going to compete with Daniels for the starting job. Mariota will now be a viable backup in a quarterback room that also features Jeff Driskel, Sam Hartman, and Trace McSorley.

Daniels has looked very sharp through his first two preseason outings. The 6-foot-4 star has gone 12-for-15 for 123 yards while rushing another three times for 16 yards and one touchdown. It remains to be seen how much playing time he gets in the Commanders’ third and final preseason game against the New England Patriots this weekend.

The Commanders are coming off a 2023 season in which they went 4-13, the team’s worst season since 2019. The team officially moved on from Ron Rivera and brought in Quinn, the former defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys.

With Quinn in tow and a new quarterback of the future in Daniels, the Commanders are poised for a much better 2024 season. Daniels will look to help Washington take the leap in 2024, and potentially get back to the postseason for the first time since 2020.

For now, though, Daniels just needs to worry about Week 1. The Commanders take on the Buccaneers on the road in Week 1 before Daniels will get to play in front of the Washington faithful for the first time in Week 2 against the New York Giants in a divisional battle.

That will be a great test for Daniels early in his NFL career.

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