It was apparent early in the 2024 season that Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the frontrunner for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Daniels never let up. Instead, he improved throughout his rookie season, saving his best for the playoffs. He led the Commanders to road wins over the Buccaneers and top-seeded Lions. While Washington ultimately fell short against the Eagles in the NFC championship, the future is brighter than ever.
Daniels won the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week award a record-breaking 11 times this season. This week, he was named Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Year, which he followed up with the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Daniels received 49 out of 50 votes, with the only other vote for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers. It was surprising that Daniels wasn’t the unanimous winner. After every voter’s ballot was revealed, we learned that former PFF analyst Sam Monson didn’t vote for Daniels.
He explained why he voted for Bowers on X:
Brock Bowers had an all-time great season at a position that is not easy to succeed at right out of the gate. Just like Daniels.
Daniels won because of the QB bonus in today’s game, but it’s pretty clear Bowers has a very strong case. https://t.co/4ivzPFpStv
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) February 7, 2025
While you can strongly disagree with Monson, he made a valid point. But while Bowers had a historic rookie campaign, Daniels helped turn around a moribund franchise. When voting for these awards, you must consider everything.
On Friday, Monson joined “Grant and Danny” of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., and further explained his reasoning.
“You don’t love it. I have a pretty good idea of what my mentions are going to look like for the next couple of days,” Monson said via Lou DiPietro of Audacy.
“To me, they were extremely close, and I think either one of them wins in another season. I knew I’d be in a minority, but I was surprised I was the minority of one. Even the guys from the AP don’t know if there’s been a unanimous winner, but ultimately, 49 concurred on this one.”
Again, you can disagree with Monson, but attacking him on social media is not the answer. It never is. Monson should be commended for not hiding behind his vote.
“It’s a regular-season award, so the playoffs that enhanced his candidacy didn’t matter, because the deadline is the day after the end of the regular season,” Monson continued. “That would’ve pushed Daniels above Bowers, but you’re talking about two guys who had incredible rookie years, and Bowers had a better season than the benchmark for a rookie tight end. QB is the hardest position to play, but tight end is not an easy position to hit the ground running, either. He was breaking not just tight end records, but rookie receiving records.”
Bowers, Bo Nix, Brian Thomas Jr., and Malik Nabers all had strong cases for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. It was an incredible rookie class. Ultimately, though, the voters got this one right.
