Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during wild-card weekend to earn a NFC divisional round matchup against the top seeded Detroit Lions. In doing so Jayden Daniels completed 24-of-35 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns and added another 36 yards rushing. It was a tremendous performance in primetime in his his first ever postseason game.
Unsurprisingly, everyone was very excited about the Commanders' rookie quarterback the next day with both ESPN's Tedy Bruschi and FS1's Colin Cowherd calling Daniels the "best rookie quarterback" of all-time.
"The rookie rules don't apply, they don't apply to this guy. ... This is the best rookie quarterback I've seen."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 13, 2025
—@TedyBruschi on Commanders Rookie QB Jayden Daniels 🤩 pic.twitter.com/AgkHYytElP
"I've never seen something like this," said Brushi on Monday's Get Up. "13 years as a player. 16 years as an analyst here. This is the best rookie quarterback I've seen. I mean, Roethlisberger was pretty good too, but this just has more."
Later that morning Cowherd gushed about Daniels's clutch play.
“Jayden Daniels best Rookie QB EVER”@colincowherd on the Commanders win over the Bucs pic.twitter.com/GDVSJYi4EI
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) January 13, 2025
But that's pretty early in the week. The list of quarterbacks who have been really good immediately and had it translate to stats and winning is pretty short. So with a full workweek until the next game, the stakes needed to be raised.
On the Fantasy Football Happy Hour NBC Sports's Matthew Berry, Connor Rodgers and Jay Croucher seemed to come to a consensus that Daniels was already one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and might even be the best quarterback in the NFC.
Is Jayden Daniels the best QB in the NFC & a top 5 QB in the NFL? Via #FFHappyHour @ConnorJRogers @croucherJD pic.twitter.com/8yF7XVE42p
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) January 15, 2025
On the You Better You Bet podcast Nick Kostos agreed and then asked Herm Edwards if he did. Edwards explained that Daniels is the most complete quarterback and he's "getting better and better."
"[Jayden Daniels] is the most complete quarterback."@TheKostos | @HermEdwards | @1067theFan pic.twitter.com/8xYaXbTXbJ
— You Better You Bet (@YouBetterYouBet) January 17, 2025
Finally, with only a few regularly scheduled hours of sports talk television remaining in the week, ESPN's Ryan Clark said that if Daniels and the Commanders beat the Lions this week it would wrap up the "greatest rookie season of all-time."
.@Realrclark25 says Jayden Daniels will be "immortal" if he beats the Lions.
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 17, 2025
"It's the greatest rookie season of all time. ... There will never be one that equals it." pic.twitter.com/ZUL0UHEYWE
"There's only one reason and one reason only the Commanders continue to go," said Clark. "Because of their quarterback. Because of his poise. Because of his composure. And if he finds a way to beat the Detroit Lions in a game, if I'm being honest, that should not be close, he is 100% the greatest rookie to ever play in this league."
"If he wins this game and he goes to Detroit," said Kyle Brandt. "He's going to supersede rookies in the NFL. He may even supersede rookies in sports." Brandt then compared Daniels to Boris Becker, Magic Johnson, Ichiro Suzuki and eventually, sliced bread.
If Jayden Daniels beats the Lions…. pic.twitter.com/lMlb4Ybbbq
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) January 17, 2025
It's not that the expectations are high, it's that it doesn't seem they could be any higher.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jayden Daniels Hype Reaching Dangerous Levels All Across the NFL Media.
