Jayden Daniels receives a small win over Jalen Hurts and the Eagles that also shapes the NFC East race for years to come

Jayden Daniels' rookie season was as brilliant as they come and thanks to the Washington Commanders' recent moves on offense, 2025 should be even better.

NFL executives, coaches, and scouts believe the same. Based on ESPN's latest Top-10 quarterback rankings, folks around the league do not view Daniels' first NFL season as a fluke or overinflated. They see it as the first stepping stone to what could amount to a Hall of Fame-caliber career.

And they believe that to the point where Daniels came in at No. 5 on the list, ahead of accomplished, Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford and Jalen Hurts: Stafford came in at No. 6 and Hurts came in at No. 8.

"Single-handedly took one of the worst franchises to the NFC title game as a rookie with a bad defense, one legitimate wide receiver, a dinosaur at tight end [12th-year pro Zach Ertz] and average-at-best OL," said an NFL coordinator who prepared for Daniels last season. "The kid can read coverages, throw with accuracy and touch to all levels of the field, just as dangerous as Lamar and Josh Allen with his legs and has a clutch factor to him because his team already believes that if he has the ball with a chance to win, he's going to find a way. If he repeats anything close to his rookie year, he's no lower than No. 3 on this list next year." - ESPN

It's a small win for Daniels, who was sent packing after a tough loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. Sure, he'd rather have the win, but the fact many believe he's already better than Hurts should help him get said win sooner than later.

Eagles and Commanders on track to battle for NFC East supremacy over the foreseeable future

Are there two teams in any other division on track to be at each other's throats for potentially the next decade? When accounting for the dynamics of each team in terms of roster construction, front office philosophy and effectiveness, and pure 2024 performance, it's hard to argue against the idea.

There's also the fact Daniels is 24 and Hurts is 26. These two guys could easily play at least 10 more years in the NFL if they stay healthy. In terms of an age gap, there isn't anything similar across the league. Jared Goff and Jordan Love are 30 and 26, Brock Purdy and Matthew Stafford are 25 and 37. The closest "age gap" in this context would be Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, who are both 28. But in that context, we're talking about a playoff-less Bengals squad facing some major questions heading into 2025. They aren't on the upswing like the Commanders and Eagles.

Regardless, these two teams are on track to provide some highly entertaining football for a long time and when they're hitting on all cylinders, the NFL is exponentially better.