Commanders' Jayden Daniels takes lead in 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year race
On an NFL Kickoff weekend where Baker Mayfield stole the show, Jayden Daniels emerged as the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year frontrunner on the same field.
The reigning 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 overall pick out of LSU flashed every bit of the repertoire that led to him to the top of draft boards, completing 17-of-24 passes for 184 yards while rushing for another 88 yards and two scores in a losing effort against Tampa Bay.
Jayden Daniels quickly proves he's a talent of his own
Many compared him to Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields pre-draft because of his dual-threat ability. Still, his most outstanding trait is his accuracy in throwing the football, and he was on the money as usual against the Buccaneers, completing 71 percent of his passes.
Command of the offense doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, and Daniels looked very much in control at Tampa Bay. Despite losing the game to a clearly better team, Daniels protected the ball, only took two sacks, and led the Commanders to an admirable 5.3 yards per play.
Daniels flourished while the other rookie first-round quarterbacks struggled (Caleb Williams and Bo Nix) or watched from the sidelines (Drake Maye and injured J.J. McCarthy) on opening weekend. Rookies at other positions also looked the part, particularly Xavier Worthy in Kansas City - scoring two touchdowns on three touches and showcasing his dynamic speed in a Thursday night win over Baltimore. We all know good quarterback play usually finds its way to the top when the awards are handed out, especially when it’s as impressive as Daniels was on Sunday.
There may be only one Lamar Jackson, but Daniels showed on Sunday that there very well may be only one Jayden Daniels.
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There will for sure only be one NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Daniels made it known in Week 1 that he wants to take home the hardware.