The Washington Commanders selected Jayden Daniels out of LSU with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Despite heading to the Commanders, Las Vegas Raiders defensive back Jack Jones gave his thoughts on the pick.
“I know that look he ain’t wanna go there,” Jones wrote in an April 25 X post.
Jones tweeted this right after Daniels was picked, making it clear that he believed the California native wanted to play for the Raiders.
‘Dream World’ to Play with Raiders Coach
Daniels played with Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce in college at Arizona State. Dianna Russini of The Athletic wrote that Daniels’ “dream world” would be to play for his former head coach and the Raiders.
“Jayden Daniels was given a high grade by many teams. While the QB is “cool” with Washington, I’m told in his “dream world” he would reunite with Raiders coach Antonio Pierce (who was an asst coach at Arizona State when he was a Sun Devil) or play under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota,” Russini wrote in an April 24 column.
While it was his dream, according to Russini, the Raiders had the No. 13 pick, giving them little chance to draft the quarterback. Even if he fell in the draft and wasn’t drafted by the Washington Commanders, another team likely would’ve drafted the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also wrote that Daniels had an interest in playing for Pierce, but recognized that it was unlikely.
“I’ve also heard Daniels has interest in playing for Pierce and the Raiders,” Fowler wrote on April 24. “That interest is mutual, though as Dan said, Las Vegas moving up from No. 13 to No. 2 just isn’t very plausible right now. Penix, Nix and even South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler could very much be in play for the Raiders down the board.”
Daniels shut down any of those rumors when he was asked if he wanted to play for the Commanders.
“Yeah. 100 percent,” Daniels said on playing for the Commanders.
Commanders General Manager Excited About Jayden Daniels
In the 2023 college football season, the 23-year-old threw for 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. He also added 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Adam Peters, the Washington Commanders general manager, said he “couldn’t believe” how good Daniels was when watching him, according to Be Standig of The Athletic.
“I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe how good he was,” Peters said. “I saw him on TV, highlights. But when you really study him as a quarterback, just as a quarterback, he’s really, really good. The way he can process, the way he can see the field, go through reads, deliver (passes) on time, deliver with pressure in (his face), take a hit, deliver a third-down pass and move the chains. … (The) best deep ball thrower we thought in the draft.”
On top of being an elite prospect on the field, Peters also believed he was a high-level person, according to Standig.
“We felt so good about how awesome of a person that he was on top of watching all that tape,” Peters said. “It made us feel really, really good about making this pick. And if we could’ve run it up, we would’ve run that pick up.”
Peters made it clear that he drafted the guy he wanted.
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