Whether by air or land, Jayden Daniels delivered every which way during a historically successful 2024 rookie season.
So brilliant was Daniels that veteran teammate Austin Ekeler admits even he was surprised.
Perhaps more startling is that Ekeler believes Daniels will be an improved version during his sophomore NFL campaign.
"He definitely exceeded expectations," Ekeler said in a recent Sirius XM NFL Radio interview. "I think that's a good thing, not that I have low expectations for him, but you really don't know.
"So, I think with quarterbacks that come in, and I've been around long enough to know how much they have on their plate, there's a lot that they have to acclimate to. There's a lot, especially learning a new playbook and getting into a new organization and you were the second-overall pick and a lot of high expectations. It was like, 'Yeah, I'm expecting you to play well.' Now, go out and kind of have an MVP-caliber type season and where you are competing in those conversations, typically you don't get that from players."
Washington got that from Daniels, though, as he sparkled to the tune of 3,568 passing yards and 891 rushing yards, becoming the first rookie to ever cross the 3,500 passing and 800 rushing thresholds. His rushing total was a rookie QB record, as was his 69.0 completion percentage. Daniels had 31 touchdowns (25 passing, six rushing) in the regular season, one in which he quarterbacked Washington to a 12-5 record for its first winning season since 2015. That all preceded Daniels piloting Washington to the franchise's first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991.
Ekeler hardly thinks Daniels is one and done. He believes the best is yet to come for the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 NFL Draft No. 2 pick.
"I think there's even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back," Ekeler said.
Ekeler explained his reasoning, citing the familiarity Daniels already has with returning offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and wide receiver Terry McLaurin. There's also the addition of former San Francisco 49ers standout Deebo Samuel, who Daniels has extolled already.
"He crushed it last year," Ekeler said. "What I see for him going into this year, we have the same offensive coordinator and so bringing that into the mix has now made it, so, now when we go through OTAs, Jayden is already on it. He's beyond kind of the rookie mistakes and learning the playbook, getting a play called out slow. He's getting people lined up. We got new guys coming in and he's like, 'Deebo you are not over here, you're on that side.' When you start to see him kind of orchestrating out there, you could tell that there's that growth. He starts to get more comfortable and that allows him to even play more mentally faster and make better decisions. So, I think there's even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back. We still have a lot of playmakers. We still have to get Terry paid. Oh man, we are going to be looking like a powerhouse out there."
Having finished runner-up in the NFC East to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Commanders looked like a potential powerhouse-in-the-making last year. They edged the NFC South-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round before upsetting the top-seeded Detroit Lions.
Ekeler sees more good fortune ahead in Washington and plenty of it coming from the right arm and fleet feet of Daniels.
