Whether by air or land, Jayden Daniels delivered every which way during a historically successful 2024 rookie season.
So brilliant was Daniels that veteran teammate Austin Ekeler admits even he was surprised.
Perhaps more startling is that Ekeler believes Daniels will be an improved version during his sophomore NFL campaign.
“He definitely exceeded expectations,” Ekeler said in a recent Sirius XM NFL Radio interview. “I think that’s a good thing, not that I have low expectations for him, but you really don’t know.
“So, I think with quarterbacks that come in, and I’ve been around long enough to know how much they have on their plate, there’s a lot that they have to acclimate to. There’s a lot, especially learning a new playbook and getting into a new organization and you were the second overall pick and a lot of high expectations. It was like, ‘Yeah, I’m expecting you to play well.’ Now, go out and kind of have an MVP-caliber type season and where you are competing in those conversations, typically you don’t get that from players.”
Washington got that from Daniels, though, as he sparkled to the tune of 3,568 passing yards and 891 rushing yards, becoming the first rookie to ever cross the 3,500 passing and 800 rushing thresholds. His rushing total was a rookie QB record as was his 69.0 completion percentage. Daniels had 31 touchdowns (25 passing, six rushing) in the regular season, one in which he quarterbacked Washington to a 12-5 record for its first winning season since 2012. That all preceded Daniels piloting Washington to the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991.
Ekeler hardly thinks Daniels is one and done. He believes the best is yet to come for the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 NFL Draft No. 2 pick.
“I think there’s even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back,” Ekeler said.