Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud are good friends. When they're not competing against each other, they hope nothing but the best for one another.
The two quarterbacks' NFL journey has gotten off to a very similar start. Both men were highly recruited coming out of high school, had success at big-time college football programs, were No. 2 overall picks in their respective NFL Draft classes, and won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Each quarterback also led their Texans and Commanders squads to the playoffs in their first seasons.
Like Stroud, entering his second season, the excitement around Daniels is high in Washington as it was in Houston. The only difference, it would appear, is how each franchise went about supporting their young quarterbacks in that critical offseason between years one and two.
Appearing on the Take Command podcast with hosts Craig Hoffman and Logan Paulsen, Mike Golic Jr. commented on what the Commanders have done this offseason, specifically the additions to the offensive line. He pointed out the difference in how the Texans approached Stroud's second season as a comparison.
"I think it's a massive step in the right direction for a team that's coming off of one of the greatest gold mines you could possibly tap into in finding a rookie quarterback like Jayden Daniels the way they did. And kind of learning from what we saw as that cautionary tale last year with CJ. Stroud and the Houston Texans, where you saw year one, it was great, but covered up some flaws that in year two got exposed when they didn't really do much to go and try and improve the situation in front of and around him.
"You can blame play calling, you can blame injury along the offensive line or maybe just a lack of the right personnel in that group that included Laremy Tunsil who's now in Washington and what you got ultimately was a season that was a massive step back for Houston in a year where a lot of people thought they were going to be a real playoff sleeper."
What Golic says he really loves is the approach by Washington to really go for improving an offensive roster that was already top five in scoring, understanding that it appears they've landed one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and that pushing for these improvements while Daniels is on his rookie contract could pay off big time.
In his second NFL season, Stroud stepped back along with his franchise in just about every important statistical measure for a professional quarterback despite his team winning one more regular season game than in 2023.
Once again, the Texans were led to the playoffs by their young quarterback, but were bounced from the postseason in the second round by the Kansas City Chiefs who would eventually represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Given the strength of schedule the Commanders and Daniels are facing this season it is possible for the opposite result to occur. One where Daniels' stats get better, yet the team wins fewer regular season games.
The opposite of being eliminated from the playoffs being winning the Super Bowl, we're pretty sure Daniels and all involved would gladly take that result. If the moves that Washington made this offseason, the ones that Golic says he loves, work out, then that reality may not be as far away as it seemed just two offseasons ago,
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