Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders are looking to keep the momentum up from their 2024 season.
Daniels put on a spectacular debut season, completing 69 percent of his passes for just over 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns and rushing for another 891 yards and six scores on his way to Rookie of the Year honors and MVP consideration.
Daniels helped command one of the best offenses in the league despite an average supporting cast outside of wide receiver Terry McLaurin last year, and will now have more at his disposal with the addition of Deebo Samuel to go along with improved blocking along the offensive line.
Now, entering his second year, Daniels will have added pressure to perform at the highest level. Yes, he will have more help, but now he is a serious contender to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league and will be expected to once again lead his team to a deep playoff run.
With the knowns about what he will face in his sophomore season, the question that begs to be asked is if Daniels is a legit threat to win the NFL MVP award. While many think he does, former NFL quarterback Phil Simms joined the Up & Adams show with Kay Adams to calm the talk around him reaching that point just yet.
Daniels has great odds to be the NFL MVP, but there are strong contenders for the coveted award ahead of him that have proven year after year that they can put up the numbers worthy of an MVP. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen (2024 MVP), Joe Burrow, and Patrick Mahomes all can make a case before the season to be crowned.
The thing that differentiates Daniels from those with better odds is that he is only entering his second season in the league. Pundits likely want to see if Daniels can maintain his level of play without having any sort of fall off, and if he can avoid the sophomore slump, then there could be a great chance of him being in the running at the end of the season if the Commanders' record reflects his top-notch level of play.
The last players to win MVP in their second seasons were Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson in back-to-back seasons from 2018-2019.
