Jayden Daniels entered his third pro season with a clear mission: show that his 2024 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year run was no mirage. Six weeks into the year, and with the Commanders on bye, he has given Washington plenty to like when he’s on the field. He’s been dangerous through the air, dangerous on the ground, and after missing time with a dislocated left elbow, the injury hasn’t seemed to slow him down over the past two weeks since his return.
Even with that promise, Daniels is still a work in progress.
Washington is 1-4-1, and the Commanders still haven’t won a game Daniels has started since Week 5 of the 2025 season. Wins may not belong on a quarterback stat sheet, and Daniels remains the least of Washington’s issues. But after the kind of season he put together two years ago, this is not where people expected the conversation to be.
That’s the trap that comes with exploding onto the scene. Once a young quarterback plays well enough to get mentioned with the league’s elite, the standard changes fast.
Daniels has been treated by some fans as if he were beyond criticism, as if he should be able to drag everything around him upward on talent alone. That’s not how this works.
The comparison to Robert Griffin III hangs there for a reason. Immediate success can push a young star into unrealistic territory, where every dip gets treated like a crisis and every flaw gets ignored until it can’t be anymore.
Daniels has been placed on that kind of pedestal, with people wanting him to be the next Patrick Mahomes - the kind of quarterback who arrives fully formed and never seems to slip. That player is rare to the point of being fantasy.
Daniels still has issues to clean up. His game management has already been picked apart enough over the last two weeks, but the concerns don’t stop there. He has also left too many wide-open throws on the table, and durability is still part of the discussion around him.
So where does he stand right now among the league’s best? Maybe in the back end of the top 10.
That’s a strong place to be. It’s also not yet the level people projected for him after 2024, when he was being spoken about as a future NFL MVP, a possible Super Bowl driver, even a Pro Football Hall of Fame talent.
The expectation was that it was only a matter of time before he got there.
He’s not there yet. That doesn’t mean the ceiling has disappeared.
What Daniels has shown when healthy is still enough for Washington to believe in what comes next. Just not enough to call him a savior.
In Other News...
Commanders Still Have A Few Young Reasons For Hope
A rough 1-4-1 start has left Washington looking for any signs that the early season might not be slipping away, and a few younger pieces have given the coaching staff at least a reason to keep watching. Sonny Styles has been one of the more noticeable standouts on defense, Jayden Daniels has kept competing through injuries and some mistakes, Antonio Williams has added value as a receiver, and Amik Robertson has brought a steadier presence to the secondary.
The defense, in particular, has found some energy from KLavon Chaisson, whose pressure has shown up in ways Washington badly needs as it tries to stop long drives and flip field position. For a team still sorting through a difficult opening stretch, those performances do not fix everything, but they do matter because they suggest the roster is not short on young players worth building around as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Quinn Faces Pressure In A Game Washington Cannot Waste
The Commanders come out of their bye week into one of the most consequential games on their schedule, a Sunday night divisional matchup with the Eagles at home. Philadelphia is not the same group Washington has spent years chasing. The Eagles have been hit hard by injuries and roster turnover, and this trip comes with a chance for Washington to reset its season against a rival still trying to sort through major changes.
For Dan Quinn, though, the backdrop goes beyond the standings. Washingtons recent form has left little margin for error, and a home game like this is the kind that can shape how the rest of the season is viewed. In a division where every result seems to linger, the Commanders cannot afford to let this one slip away if they want to change the tone around the team. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Harbaugh Is Suddenly Facing Questions Chargers Fans Never Expected
The middle of the NFL season always starts to sharpen the focus on the people on the sideline, and Dan Quinn has found himself in that spotlight as the Commanders try to steady a choppy stretch. Washington has had enough issues on the field to make every decision feel bigger than it should, and the pressure around the coach is only getting louder as the team tries to keep pace in a season that has already delivered too many setbacks.
A recent loss only added to the unease, and the Commanders are now dealing with the kind of ripple effects that can change the tone around a locker room fast. For Quinn, the concerns are no longer just about results, but about how Washington is being managed through the most unforgiving part of the schedule, with every misstep inviting a fresh round of questions about where this team is headed next. [Read more 🡒]