ESPN Reveals Shocking Grade of Commanders QB Jayden Daniels originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels had a special start to his career last season. The former second-overall pick led the team to 12 wins in 2024 and helped the long-ailing franchise reach the conference championship game for the first time in three decades.
Was his success last season enough to put him among the best quarterbacks in the league? While many analysts tend to agree, one writer is going even further than that.
ESPN analyst Andrew Hawkins claimed this week that Daniels has become one of the top signal-callers in the sport and that he believes the Washington quarterback is the best in the entire conference.
“We all know the NFL is about trajectory, and I don’t think anyone has a higher trajectory than Jayden Daniels coming into this season,” Hawkins said. “The fear with rookie success is that it was a product of the element of surprise. But when you watch Jayden Daniels, his poise in big moments made him an anomaly.”
It is somewhat shocking that a quarterback with just a year of NFL experience can be considered the top quarterback of his conference, especially when another quarterback in said conference won the Super Bowl that very season. (Psst: Philly’s Jalen Hurts is pretty successful.)
At the same time …
It’s normal to get overly excited about great young NFL players. Fans argued similar things with Houston Texans signal-caller C.J. Stroud the year before.
But to say that Daniels has already vaulted himself ahead of Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford, Brock Purdy, or even Dak Prescott? Some might say that is insulting to those veterans.
Of the four names listed, two have won a Super Bowl, three have been to the big game, and the last has a 10-2 record against Washington.
Daniels isn’t quite there yet.
People are beginning to jump the gun when it comes to Daniels. But if “people” are right … it’ll be the best news for Washington’s young quarterback going into his sophomore season.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.