New York Giants coach Brian Daboll likes Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. We know this from the “Hard Knocks” series over the summer where Daboll said yes, he would trade up for Daniels.
Even New York general manager Joe Schoen wanted his dad to trade up for Daniels. Unfortunately for the Giants, that was never going to happen. Picking sixth overall, New York never had a chance at Daniels, who went No. 2 overall to Washington. Daniels was never getting past the Commanders, who reportedly would have chosen him No. 1 if they held that pick.
Daniels is enjoying one of the greatest rookie seasons in NFL history through eight weeks. He’s broken numerous NFL and team records and has Washington sitting at 6-2 and in first place in the NFC East. He has singlehandedly transformed the Commanders into contenders.
Daboll isn’t surprised. He met with the media Wednesday and praised Washington’s star rookie.
“He’s one of the better quarterbacks in the league already,” Daboll said. “He’s got great vision. He can throw the ball in any area he needs to throw it. He can throw it under pressure. He can escape and make plays with his feet. He can escape and make plays with his arm. He’s got good command, which we knew he was a smart guy when we spoke with him. He’s playing well, at a high level. You can tell there’s a lot of confidence in him. He has a lot of yards per attempt. Eight and a half, which is really good. He makes good decisions. He does a lot of good things.”
Meanwhile, the Giants are stumbling through another losing season with their quarterback Daniel Jones struggling. New York may have wanted to take a quarterback, but it wouldn’t settle for any once the top passers were off the board with the first three picks.
Now, Daboll realizes that for as long as he remains the Giants’ coach, these aren’t the same old Commanders he played under Ron Rivera.
