One year ago, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the talk of the NFL. The rookie and No. 2 overall pick had just led the upstart Commanders to a 45-31 upset win on the road against the top-seeded Detroit Lions. It was Daniels and the Commanders who ended Ben Johnson’s tenure in Detroit.

In 2025, it was a year to forget for Daniels, who missed 10 games with three separate injuries, and Washington tumbled to a 5-12 record. It didn’t help Daniels that the Commanders had one of the NFL’s worst defenses, and he often played shorthanded, with Washington relying on practice-squad elevations as his top weapons.

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One player who understands Daniels’ frustrations, going from a standout rookie campaign to taking a step back in Year 2, is C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans. Stroud was the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year before struggling at times throughout the 2024 season. Houston still won, but largely due to its defense.

Stroud looked even worse in 2025, culminating in his performance in Sunday’s AFC divisional round loss to the New England Patriots. Stroud completed 20 of 47 passes for 212 yards, with four interceptions and one touchdown. All four interceptions were in the first half. If Stroud had been competent, Houston likely wins with its defense.

Stroud’s fall is a bit of a cautionary tale for Daniels. Just because you win the Rookie of the Year award and experience playoff success in the first year, it doesn’t mean you will get back there. What has gone wrong in Houston? If you just look at Stroud’s numbers, you don’t see a drastic fall. Stroud’s job in 2025 was to serve as the game manager. Don’t turn the ball over, while Houston’s defense dominates the opposition.

It hasn’t helped that the Texans fired Stroud’s rookie offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, after his second season. Then, Houston blew up its offensive line before the 2025 season, which included trading five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders. That type of instability is never good for a young quarterback.

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While you can criticize Washington GM Adam Peters for some of his misses over the last two years, he has worked to strengthen the Commanders’ offensive line in front of Daniels. But he must also spend some money this offseason to give Daniels more offensive weapons aside from Terry McLaurin. Another similarity to watch between Daniels and Stroud is that both have new offensive coordinators entering their third seasons. Washington parted ways with Kliff Kingsbury after the season, promoting assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough.

The Commanders believe Blough is a future coaching star. So does the rest of the NFL. He’s also close with Daniels. So, while change can be concerning for a young quarterback, keeping Blough in place should be the type of continuity Daniels needs heading into his third season.

Part of Stroud’s struggles appears to be confidence-related. He doesn’t trust what he sees. For Daniels, it doesn’t appear he reached that point in 2025. When he was on the field, he didn’t have a lot of help. McLaurin missed half of the season, Austin Ekeler was out for almost the entire season, and Daniels was playing with receivers he barely practiced with.

Peters should watch Stroud closely and not repeat the same mistakes with Daniels. The 2026 offseason is shaping up to be one of the most important in franchise history. It will determine whether that magical 2024 season was an outlier. Or, it could prove that the 2025 season is just “same old Washington.”

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Considering Washington’s coaching changes, they’re already feeling the pressure. The most important aspect of this offseason is to make life easier on Daniels. Far too often in his first two years, Daniels has had to carry the team on his back. Things went south in 2025 when Daniels couldn’t repeat 2024 due to injuries.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels must avoid C.J. Stroud downfall