The Jayden Daniels fan-club is growing, and the Washington Commanders rookie quarterback can now count legendary former NFL head coach Joe Gibbs among its members.
Gibbs deemed Daniels special after watching the second-overall pick in the 2024 draft guide the Commanders to a 45-31 upset win over the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
The man who won three Super Bowls in Washington, with three different quarterbacks, attended the game at Ford Field on Saturday, January 19 as a guest of the franchise. It proved a memorable trip, and Gibbs told Ben Standig of The Athletic, Daniels is “special.”
Gibbs believes “Having poise, coming to a place like this and playing a team like that is really, really special.”
Of all the endorsements of Daniels’ talent during his phenomenal debut season in the pros, Gibbs’ take has the most credibility. It’s the best indicator the Commanders have no limit on how far they can go with Daniels at the controls.
Joe Gibbs’ Words Have Weight
There’s hardly a better authority on QBs than Gibbs. He won titles and went to the playoffs no matter who he had playing football’s most important position.
Gibbs secured three Lombardi Trophies between 1981-92 with Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien as his quarterbacks. None of whom are in the Hall of Fame. A second stop in Washington between 2004-07 saw Gibbs go to the postseason with an ageing Mark Brunell and career backup Todd Collins.
When Gibbs speaks about signal-callers, it’s a good idea to listen. So it’s telling he focused on Daniels’ poise under pressure, the main theme of his instant success at this level.
This trait is helping the Commanders win everywhere because it’s making believers out of Daniels’ teammates.
Jayden Daniels Has Aura of Invincibility After Win vs. Lions
Upsetting the No. 1 seed on the road takes something special, and Daniels provided it against the 15-2 Lions. He was supposed to see schemes designed to make him struggle, but Daniels remained calm under fire whenever a desperate Detroit defense tried to increase the pressure.
Numbers from Next Gen Stats show Daniels excelled when he was under duress and forced to get rid of the ball quickly.
There’s something preternatural about those numbers. Particularly given the context of the game and Daniels only being 24.
What the former Heisman Trophy winner is doing defies logic. It’s also why he has an aura of invincibility teammates like left guard Nick Allegretti are buying into.
Allegretti was part of an offensive line that kept Daniels clean in the pocket. The veteran blocker echoed Gibbs’ sentiment, “J is special. There’s times they had a better call and had us beat. And he’s making it right. There’s not a whole lot of guys in this league, probably a small handful, than can do that” per The Washington Post’s Sam Fortier.
This take is worth listening to because Allegretti spent the previous two seasons helping Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowls. Like Daniels, Mahomes is a dual-threat QB who elevates his team by regularly making the seemingly impossible, possible.
Sharing that same ability is why Daniels has the Commanders one game away from the previously unthinkable.
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