{"id":29891,"date":"2025-05-07T02:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T02:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/29891\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T02:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T02:15:12","slug":"commanders-qb-jayden-daniels-plans-to-eliminate-some-tendencies-to-avoid-sophomore-slump-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/29891\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders QB Jayden Daniels plans to \u2018eliminate some tendencies\u2019 to avoid sophomore slump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jayden Daniels<\/a> knows the risk.<\/p>\n

C.J. Stroud<\/a>, Ja\u2019Marr Chase<\/a>, Dak Prescott<\/a> and Robert Griffin III all won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors before Daniels claimed the award this past season.<\/p>\n

All four \u2014 and many of their less-decorated draft classmates \u2014 took a step back in various production and efficiency metrics during their second pro season.<\/p>\n

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The sophomore slump in the NFL threatens perennially. It doesn\u2019t discriminate. Defensive coordinators have a season\u2019s worth of tape and an offseason of analysis to study rookies and strategize with a depth that game-planning against first-year players doesn\u2019t allow.<\/p>\n

So as Daniels prepares for his second season at the Washington Commanders’ helm, he\u2019s not shying away from that risk.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s embracing it. And aiming to thwart it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sitting down and watching film and trying to eliminate some tendencies, as much as possible,\u201d Daniels told Yahoo Sports this week over Zoom. \u201cTalking to the coaching staff on areas that they feel like I need to improve on and having conversations so we can all hit at full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Expectations were high when the Commanders selected Daniels second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Daniels exceeded them.<\/p>\n

Daniels completed 69% of pass attempts for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. He rushed for another 891 yards and six scores, lifting the Commanders to a 12-5 record a year after they triumphed in just four games.<\/p>\n

Washington hadn\u2019t posted a winning record in eight years, and the club hadn\u2019t won a playoff game since the 2005 season.<\/p>\n

Behind Daniels and first-year (with Washington) head coach Dan Quinn, the Commanders bested the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions en route to the NFC championship.<\/p>\n

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Along the way, the Commanders emphasized \u2026 having fun?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole energy thing and positive energy \u2014 that plays a part,\u201d said Daniels, speaking in partnership with Celsius Energy Drink’s \u201cHydration\u201d powder. \u201cObviously the magnitude of stuff is different now but, at the end of the day, you still gotta be able to tap into that inner kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels tapped into his inner kid in part because offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury tailored a system to his quarterback\u2019s strengths, empowering Daniels to play freely.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted me to be as comfortable as possible,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cWe had conversations like, \u2018I didn\u2019t like this\u2019 or \u2018I don\u2019t like that.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe might have argued a little bit, but ultimately he wouldn\u2019t call a play that I wasn\u2019t comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels remembers one week of game-planning during the season that included a play he didn\u2019t prefer. He and Kingsbury disputed the play\u2019s value in the game. They settled on trying it once.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave him one shot, didn\u2019t like it [so] he just took it out,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cYou need people around you that\u2019s gonna remove the egos at the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo whatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

This offseason, the Commanders have directed that energy toward roster improvement. Washington traded for five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil in March after trading for four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore in November.<\/p>\n

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Offensive line additions came in free agency and the draft alike, with Washington spending its first-round pick on Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr.<\/p>\n

And while Daniels already elevated receiver Terry McLaurin from a perennial 1,000-yard receiver to a 1,000-yard receiver hauling in 13 touchdowns a year after four, he\u2019s now got a new target in house.<\/p>\n

The Commanders’ flurry of March activity included a trade for longtime San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel.<\/p>\n

Daniels\u2019 expectation for Samuel?<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously Deebo\u2019s a very versatile player,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cHe’s a playmaker once you get the ball in your hand. After the catch, he does what he does. So just being able to acquire a guy like that, I’m super excited to continue to work with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we’ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jayden Daniels knows the risk. C.J. Stroud, Ja\u2019Marr Chase, Dak Prescott and Robert Griffin III all won Offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2069],"tags":[1028,427,1370,1705,113,7,734,2917,10308,594,7185,6,202,252,250,7186,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-29891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-c-j-stroud","9":"tag-commanders","10":"tag-dak-prescott","11":"tag-deebo-samuel","12":"tag-detroit-lions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-jayden-daniels","15":"tag-josh-conerly-jr","16":"tag-kliff-kingsbury","17":"tag-laremy-tunsil","18":"tag-marshon-lattimore","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-robert-griffin-iii","21":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","22":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","23":"tag-terry-mclaurin","24":"tag-washington","25":"tag-washington-commanders","26":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114464143726144184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}