Commanders select Jayden Daniels with No. 2 overall pick in NFL Draft
DETROIT, Mich. (AP/WAVY) — The Washington Commanders have selected LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, as the number two overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Daniels will bring a dynamic run-pass combo to the Commanders, as he is the only player in FBS history to throw for more than 12,000 yards and run for more than 3,000.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound do-it-all threat ranked fifth with 3,812 yards passing and with 40 touchdowns trailed just Oregon’s Bo Nix, who played in two extra games. He ran for 10 more. He topped Division I among quarterbacks in rushing in 2023 with 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns.
In his collegiate career, he threw for 12,749 yards and 89 touchdowns while completing 65% of his passes.
Daniels began his collegiate career at Arizona State, where he threw for 2,943 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just two interceptions as a true freshman in 2019. He had an abbreviated season in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he threw for 2,380 yards with 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions before transferring to LSU.
In 2022, Daniels completed nearly 69% of his passes for 2,913 yards and 17 touchdowns, throwing just three interceptions. He also rushed for 885 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Last season, Sam Howell started as the Commanders quarterback. However, he was traded last month to the Seattle Seahawks, who will also get fourth and sixth round draft picks from Washington in exchange for third and fifth-round picks.
The Commanders also released their backup quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, and signed Marcus Mariota.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams went No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears.
The decision to go with Daniels, the AP’s college football player of the year for his stellar season with LSU, was made after Chicago led off by taking Williams as expected. Washington went with Daniels over North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan national champion J.J. McCarthy.
Daniels had for quite some time been the favorite to be chosen by the Commanders, though buzz over the past week put that in doubt after reports surfaced that he and his agent were not happy with the team hosting four QB prospects at once. Daniels, May, McCarthy and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. all visited the practice facility and area together, including a group trip to Topgolf.
“Everybody had a great time and it was very beneficial to see everybody in a more relaxed environment,” general manager Adam Peters said last week. “They all got a lot of time individually with their coaches, with us, where they were staggered coming in, too, so it wasn’t like they were sitting in a room together. They all had their own individual time with everybody, so, it worked out really well.”
Well enough to smooth over any issues and make Daniels the centerpiece of the Commanders’ rebuilding process and roster overhaul under Peters and an ownership group led by Josh Harris that has been in charge since August.
“I’m blessed to go wherever I’m called,” Daniels said Wednesday. “Whoever calls my phone, whoever gives the card to the Commissioner that says my name, I’m blessed to go and they’re gonna get my all.”
Short of Williams, a Washington-area native who would have been a no-brainer if the Bears passed on him for some reason, Daniels became the pick after leading the nation in total offense last season with 4,946 yards — 412.2 on average over 12 games.
Daniels, 23, blossomed into a star over two seasons at LSU after transferring in 2022 following three years at Arizona State. He became an increasingly decisive pocket passer as his trust in receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. grew, and he became more adept at buying time by scrambling rather than giving up on plays and taking off running.
It’s unclear if Daniels will play right away, get the chance to compete for the starting job or sit and learn behind veteran Marcus Mariota, who is willing to be a mentor after signing a one-year deal in free agency. Whether it’s Daniels, Mariota or journeyman Jeff Driskel, Washington will have an eighth different Week 1 starting QB in as many seasons after trading Howell to Seattle last month.
Drafted second by Washington 12 years after the organization took Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III out of Baylor in the same spot, the San Bernardino, California, native becomes the face of the Commanders under coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
“I’ve been familiar with Kliff,” Daniels said. “Obviously, his track record with mobile quarterbacks speaks for itself.”
Asked on ESPN after being drafted what the coaching staff can do to get the most from him, Daniels said: “Just believe in me. It’s going to be a grind. We’re going to work. I’m a hard worker, man, so I can’t wait.”
After addressing their most important need with their first selection, the Commanders have eight more in this draft, including five Friday night (Nos. 36 and 40 in the second round, and Nos. 67, 78 and 100 in the third). Peters did not rule out packaging some of those picks to trade back into the first round, a move that could fill a major void at left tackle or elsewhere.
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