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Jayden Daniels is set for a major change in new Washington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough’s scheme.
Change is coming for Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on offense, a major change sparked by head coach Dan Quinn replacing Kliff Kingsbury with David Blough as offensive coordinator.
Blough’s primary task will be getting Daniels back to the levels he played at as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024. That’s a tall task, but one fundamental adjustment can make it happen.
The adjustment involves putting Daniels under center more often. Blough explained to reporters, including JP Finlay of NBC4 Sports, on Tuesday, February 10, how Daniels being under center “opens up some different schemes in the run game. Some things that I believe in, and it opens up different play-actions and keepers and getting him on the perimeter in different ways. I think there’s a level of communication that happens under center. There’s different ways of to go about things and it’s something that I’m convicted about, that with his skill-set, his fundamentals, the things that we absolutely loved about him when he first got here, still ring true.”
Of putting the QB under center David Blough says “it’s something I am convicted about” and Jayden can thrive with more options and play action opportunities
Those words represent a significant shift in style for Daniels ahead of a pivotal third season. The change is also endorsed by head coach Dan Quinn, who is betting big on Blough and another first-year play-caller to make dramatic changes to the schemes on both sides of the ball.
David Blough Given Green Light to Make Major Jayden Daniels Change
Quinn is willing to trust Blough’s reputation as a rising star in coaching circles. Somebody with an innate understanding of what can help a playmaker at football’s most important position.
It’s no-small step up from assistant quarterbacks coach to owning the headset, but Quinn is backing Blough’s vision. Quinn promised “this is going to be an aggressive, balanced attack, but that will probably have more under center than we have in the past. That’s also for run action and play passes to generate explosive plays. And so, we’re going to try to feature every part of Jayden in the way that makes him unique and special. But also, the run action and the runs and the play action game that goes with it, those are all things to generate explosive plays.”
There’s a common theme in what both Quinn and Blough have said about the decision to put Daniels under center. The thread links being able to better disguise run and pass to keep defenses guessing.
Play-action passing is an easier sell for a QB1 withdrawing from center. It’s also something the Commanders have seen work in the past.
Commanders Turning Clock Back on Offense
Having the quarterback under center in a run-first look, then moving the pocket with bootlegs is familiar stuff in Washington. It’s the same blueprint Mike Shanahan brought to the team as head coach in 2010.
The Shanahan offense stayed a feature thanks to offensive coordinators Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. They are both head coaches now, whose systems remain largely intact and continue to define much of the modern pro game.
Blough’s plan is primed to bring back more of this style of offense. A welcome return for many, including The Team 980’s Kevin Sheehan, who wants to see the Commanders “lined up and you look like run, and you look like inside-zone or outside-zone run. And everybody’s sucked up because Chris Rodriguez Jr. is averaging four-and-a-half, five yards a carry. And now you’re going bootleg back the other way, you know, with one, two and three levels of potential throws. Sometimes there’s three, sometimes there’s two. That first level sometimes is fullback or tight end, second level receiver, third level receiver, but with Jayden’s dynamic, you know, speed and elusiveness on the edge, after the whole defense is moving in the other direction. That’s definitely stuff I would’ve loved to have seen more of the last two years.”
Kevin reveals his ideal style of offense for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders
Sheehan pinpointed what was missing from Kingsbury’s offense. Overuse of the ‘pistol’ formation, with Daniels several yards behind center, made things predictable.
Daniels was too often put into positions where he needed to freelance run-pass decisions. This resulted in too much scrambling and impacted Daniels’ ability to avoid injuries.
Aligning him under center as part of a Shanahan-esque gameplan will put more structure around Daniels. He should be better protected and afforded more time to refine his decision-making as both a runner and passer.
James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko
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