The Cleveland Browns defense will have their hands full this Sunday against the Washington Commanders led by standout rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels was the second overall selection in this year's NFL Draft and is proving why so far this season.
In his first four games in the league he is extraordinarily well. He has a completion percentage of 82.1% and has thrown for just under 900 yards. He is also very capable at scrambling and moving the chains by running the ball, totaling over 200 rushing yards and averaging over eleven carries a game.
The rookie has put up some impressive stats so far. For instance he has led more scoring drives this season than he has thrown incompletions. Daniels has also only thrown one interception in four games too. His play so far has earned him NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month and some experts are saying he is now a top ten quarterback in the league.
So how do the Cleveland Browns stop him? Can they stop him?
Pressure without the blitz
Some quarterbacks are good against the blitz. They are able to quickly identify who is blitzing and from where and then identify the hot route. Jayden Daniels appears to be one of those quarterbacks.
Those are some insane numbers. A rookie being able to be this effective against the blitz is almost unheard of. So if the Browns are going to call a blitz, they better be sure they can get Daniels because he will make you pay otherwise.
With the Browns most likely not blitzing a lot, they are going to have to rely on their front four to provide the pressure and to keep Daniels in the pocket. Unfortunately, this got a little bit harder to do with the injury to Alex Wright and with Mike Hall Jr still serving his 5 game suspension.
To help their front, the defense is going to have to try to disguise coverages as best as they can. If they are successful doing this, it will hopefully slow Daniels down who has shown that he can dissect defenses very quickly. Getting strong games from top cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson Jr. will also go a long way this week in helping slow down Daniels.
Be ready for the QB run
Daniels is an exceptional athlete and is effective at running the ball. Through his first four games he had a minimum of eight rushing attempts in each game, which came in the blowout win the Commanders had last week against the Arizona Cardinals. Out of his first four games, Daniels has had a run of ten or more yards in three of the games.
The Browns have done relatively well against defending quarterback runs this year. According to StatMuse, they have given up a total of 65 rushing yards to quarterbacks on fourteen attempts. Most of those rushing yards came against Trevor Lawrence who was able to have two big runs, one that went for 33 yards and another that went for 12 yards.
If the Browns are going to sit back in coverage, then they need to make sure that Daniels is accounted for. Otherwise he will make them pay.
Final Thoughts
The Browns will definitely have their hands full Sunday. If they can get pressure and sacks with the front four and limit the quarterback's ability to run, they should at least be able to slow down the Commanders. If the Browns are going to win this week, they will need their offense to put up points because you can't count on the defense to completely shut down the Commanders offense.
