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With Jayden Daniels healthy, offensive coordinator David Blough is excited about the team’s offensive growth.
David Blough has had a front-row seat for the Jayden Daniels show for two years, but the new Washington Commanders offensive coordinator has seen first hand the 2024 NFL Rookie of the Year’s superpower.
Blough opened up about working with Daniels and his “uncanny ability” to absorb information at his introductory press conference as Commanders OC on Wednesday.
Blough was promoted from assistant quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, replacing Kliff Kingsbury who was fired after Washington’s 5-12 season ended.
David Blough: Jayden Daniels has an ‘Uncanny Ability’ to Learn Things
Daniels is obviously ultra skilled and hypercompetitive, but so are most NFL players. So Blough described the intangible that makes the Washington QB one of the NFL’s elites and how the Commanders offense can grow with that.
“He’s got an uncanny ability to just absorb any information you share with him one time,” Blough said. “The challenge to that is: how do we stack on that the second time. Where can we take his teaching and not assume he’s reached his capacity to learn?”
After taking the NFL by storm in his rookie season, Daniels spent much of 2025 on the sidelines after sustaining knee, elbow and hamstring injuries that limited him to seven games.
The injuries took a toll on Daniels’ body, but his mind was not affected, which enabled him to keep learning under Blough and Kingsbury. Blough thinks the next step will be for Daniels to show off his brain’s ability to beat defenses.
“When he first got here in 2024, [it was] the 101-level classes,” Blough said. “Now, how do we take him to every time he takes the field Sunday, he’s beating people between his ears and at the highest level just put our offense in the best position possible with his brain.”
Blough has already seen Daniels meet the challenge, and he’s excited to see it all come together in the fall.
“Giving him new content, new things to learn, new things to understand in the NFL has been really stimulating for myself and the other offensive coaches,” Blough said. “When we think about it for [Daniels], it’s how do we take him to that next level.”
The Commanders Intend to Put Jayden Daniels Under Center More in 2026
Daniels has been a shotgun quarterback for his entire NFL career, but that may change under Blough.
“It may open up some different schemes in the run game, some things that I believe in,” Blough said of Daniels being under center. “Playaction [passes] and keepers and getting him on the perimeter in different ways. I think there’s a different level of communication that happens under center.”
Blough’s comments are similar to those of Ben Johnson, who also advocated for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams starting under center after he spent nearly his whole college career and his rookie season.
Williams was, of course, chosen just one pick before Daniels in the 2024 draft, and he was able to reach a new level under Johnson in 2025. The Bears won the NFC North and reached the divisional playoffs before losing to the Los Angeles Rams.
Daniels, of course, had a similar run in his rookie season. But Blough feels strongly the move under center could be good for Daniels.
“It is something that I am convicted about,” Blough said. “With his skill set, his fundamentals, the things that we absolutely loved about him when he first got here still ring true, and I think a lot of the teams that you saw deep into the playoffs was a foundation of what they did, and that is something we would like to implement with him.”
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
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