Jayden Daniels had a sensational rookie season when he unexpectedly led the Washington Commanders to a playoff berth and a trip to the NFC Championship Game, and fans are on cloud nine as far as what the future could hold.
However, it is entirely possible that Daniels will have a sophomore slump, just as C.J. Stroud did for the Houston Texans, especially now that opposing defensive coordinators will have a full season’s worth of video to use to prepare to play against him.
One ESPN analyst said that self-analysis will be the key for Daniels to avoid that slump and build on what he did as a rookie.
“For me, it’s gotta be up to Jayden Daniels, it’s gotta be up to (offensive coordinator) Kliff Kingsbury and the entire coaching staff to say, ‘Hey Jayden, I understand how excellent we were, but in order to not have that slump like we saw with C.J. Stroud, we’re gonna work on some of those little things,'” Sam Acho said, via NFL on ESPN.
Daniels was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and quickly gave the Commanders their first true franchise quarterback in decades.
Their success this season was all the more impressive considering their lack of weapons at the skill positions and a defense that had trouble stopping the run.
Stroud is an example of what Daniels needs to avoid in 2025. The Houston Texans quarterback was last season’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and, as Daniels did this year, displayed plenty of magic in crunch time as a rookie, but his stats and overall results did not improve in his second season.
Daniels threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 69.0 percent of his pass attempts and running for 891 yards and six touchdowns, giving him the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Another way for him to avoid a sophomore slump, as Acho pointed out, is for Washington to provide him with another bona fide weapon on offense, especially at wide receiver.
