Jayden Daniels has blown past so many expectations and optimistic projections during his rookie year. Perceived ceilings are being raised by the week and must go higher after he casually walked into hostile territory and lead his Washington Commanders to a road playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Daniels completed 24 of his 35 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns while playing turnover-free football. He used his legs to add another 36 yards on the ground. And he put together a confident, in-control drive to set up Zane Gonzalez's game-winning field goal.
The Commanders will face an even tougher task next weekend at a raucous Ford Field. One more sparkling performance will put Daniels into position to earn a Super Bowl berth.
Peter Schrager spoke on Monday's Good Morning Football about all that the first-year quarterback has already accomplished.
The ultimate compliment is being considered one of the few guys you'd want as your QB with the game on the line. @JayD__5 is in his first season with the @commanders and is already on the short list. He became the first rookie QB to win a road playoff game over a non-rookie since… pic.twitter.com/rteqwl5yg4
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) January 13, 2025
"Jayden Daniels is already one of those dudes," Schrager said. "I'm putting him in that conversation of game is on the line, two minutes left, you put the ball in his hand he's going to put you in position to score. That final drive was awesome.
"For this guy to be a rookie doing this on this stage—under the lights in the final game of the weekend was miraculous."
It'd be hard to find someone to argue. And the fact that Daniels does everything so smoothly with everything on the line is even more impressive. It's usually hard to define that "it" factor so it's helpful when a quarterback comes around so clearly in possession of that "it" factor that there's no need to try to define it.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Peter Schrager: Jayden Daniels Already 'One of Those Dudes' You Want In Crunch Time.
