How a rookie is shaking up the NFL

At a time when offensive numbers are in the basement and hardly anyone is putting their horsepower on the road, we saw a memorable offensive spectacle at the end of Week 3 of the NFL in the duel between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Commanders. The party showed how good quarterback Jayden Daniels already is.

To get straight to the point: Yes, the general assumption was that Jayden Daniels was the furthest quarterback in this year’s draft class. The one that could be thrown in the first place right now. And that’s exactly what he’s done, clearly setting himself apart from his QB class.

Offenses across the board are struggling these days. Hardly any team manages to bring consistency to their own offensive efforts. But one team is close to consistency at a high level – surprise! It’s the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders made waves in Week 2 by beating the New York Giants 21-18, despite not scoring a single touchdown. only Seven field goals. But they were seven field goals in seven real drives – excluding kneeldowns at the end of a half. The Commanders didn’t commit a turnover and scored in every drive that they didn’t voluntarily end.

Commanders NFL write history

Why is that notable? Because they did it again on Monday night! Once again, they had only scoring drives across the board, but this time, the majority of them ended in touchdowns – except for kneeldowns at the end of both halves. Never before in the Super Bowl era has a team managed to play two games in a row without punts and without turnovers.

The fact that the Bengals also did not punt and, apart from one missed field goal attempt, also always scored does not exactly speak well for head coach Dan Quinn’s defense, but with such a consistent offense, that is not a problem for the moment.

The key to this is undoubtedly the excellent connection between offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Jayden Daniels, his second pick in the draft. Kingsbury’s offense, which has already been decried as a college offense, helps Daniels get easy reads. But Daniels himself also brings a lot to the table to keep the ball and the chains moving.

Against the Bengals, Daniels completed 21 of his 23 pass attempts and had a completion percentage over expected of +20.8 percent according to Next Gen Stats – the highest CPOE of the season in the NFL. His passing rate of 91.3 percent is the highest ever for a rookie in NFL history. “That’s crazy,” Daniels commented on his own efficiency, somewhat surprised.

NFL: McLaurin helps Daniels enormously

And he didn’t just throw short safety passes. Seven of his passes were medium distance (at least 10 air yards), four were deep (at least 20 air yards) and two of them were successful – one was 55 yards and one was a 27-yard touchdown to Terry McLaurin.

This was a very special one, not only because McLaurin made a spectacular catch in the end zone, but because it underlined how precise Daniels throws and how good his connection is to McLaurin. According to Next Gen Stats, this TD pass had a completion probability of just 10.3 percent. It was the most unlikely touchdown this season and the most unlikely completion by the Commanders in the NGS era since 2016.

McLaurin is another key factor for the Commanders. He is the X-receiver and the one who is always available to play. One way to make it as easy as possible for a rookie quarterback is to have a top receiver on the team. McLaurin is that one.

But Daniels was not surprised by the fact that he is generally capable of such a performance: “I worked hard for this. What is done in the darkness always comes to light at some point. I have to prepare for these moments. I just have to go out there, play football and do it.

What makes life even more difficult for opponents is the fact that Daniels can also run. And very efficiently at that. After being criticized by Quinn at the beginning of the season for taking too many runs – against the Buccaneers in Week 1 he had 16 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns – he has recently scaled back his outings somewhat. Against the Giants he had ten carries (44 YDS) and against Cincy he had twelve for 39 yards and a touchdown. He also turned down the volume, but maintained an impressive efficiency in his running game. Against the Bengals he generated 0.79 expected points added per play with his runs, in addition to his 0.77 EPA/play through the air, where he generated a total of 27.2 EPA, which is a staggering number.

Daniels receives praise from NFL competitors

And Daniels’ performance has not gone unnoticed by the competition. Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase, who scored two touchdowns in the game himself, said: “He’s a great damn player, to be honest with you.”

Daniels didn’t necessarily see the fact that it was his first Monday Night Game in the NFL as additional motivation: “I want to compete at a high level. I’m just blessed to be able to go out there every Sunday and do things that a lot of people in the world can’t do.” And on Monday or whatever we want to play.

The Commanders will continue their game next Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, Kingsbury’s former team. This should provide extra motivation for the OC, but Daniels will probably just keep doing his thing and try to make a punter redundant for the third game in a row.