![\"Commanders](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2250563258-e1775526881526.jpg\")
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Analyst raves about Commanders QB Jayden Daniels heading into year three.<\/p>\n
After putting together a historic rookie season for the Washington Commanders<\/a>, QB Jayden Daniels<\/a> had a lackluster and injury-filled sophomore season. While many have begun to overlook him already, one analyst thinks the rising star still has a lot left to give the NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the April 6th episode of \u201cGood Morning Football,\u201d Kyle Brandt used an odd form of comparison to praise the Commanders\u2019 QB. He drew similarities between Daniels and TV series, feeling that his current story is on par with the hit series The Walking Dead.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s The Walking Dead. Prolific first season, season two slows way the hell down\u2026But then it still becomes something massive and seminal,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to me that the Jayden Daniels talk is about this big when what he did was historic, special, promising, and then he ran into injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n Is Jayden Daniels the WESTWORLD of QBs?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think so. <\/p>\n Daniels took the league by storm as a rookie, leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship game. However, injuries resulted in him playing in just seven games last season. In that time, the 25-year-old posted<\/a> a 2-5 record while throwing for 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns.<\/p>\n Kyle Brandt Puts Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Ahead of Caleb Williams<\/p>\n Despite taking a big step back in year two, Brandt is still a firm believer in Daniels and his ability to lead the Commanders. He even went as far as to put him ahead of another promising young QB on the path towards stardom.<\/p>\n While sounding off on the lack of coverage around Daniels heading into this season, Brandt reminded the football world of his stunning rookie season. He placed it above what former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams<\/a> did early in his career after an impressive showing in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cCaleb Williams was a sensation last year, and it\u2019s like we all forgot about Jayden Daniels,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cDo you understand that Jayden\u2019s rookie year was better than Caleb\u2019s second year, in several important categories.\u201d<\/p>\n Jayden Daniels Viewed as Key Factor in Commanders Getting Back to Contender Status in the NFC<\/p>\n With injuries keeping him on the sidelines for the majority of last season, the Commanders were unable to remain in the hunt in the NFC in 2025. As they aim to get back to the playoffs in 2026, Daniels is seen as the make-or-break factor.<\/p>\n Washington has an array of talent on both sides of the ball, but essentially, they\u2019ll only go as far as Daniels will take them. While hosting on \u201cThe Team 980\u201d on April 6th, Kevin Sheehan stated that the Commanders\u2019 primary path to being a contender again is the young QB returning to elite form.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Washington to be anywhere near a team that they resembled two years ago, Jayden\u2019s gonna have to really play well. He\u2019s gonna have to a high-level, borderline elite quarterback,\u201d Sheehan said. \u201cHe\u2019s got the potential to be that, he was that two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n It might just be that simple: The Commanders\u2019 path to being real contenders depends on Jayden Daniels playing like an elite-level QB again <\/p>\n Given his track record, Daniels has proven he has the necessary skills to lead the Commanders deep into the postseason. Heading into year three, staying healthy and on the field will be his primary objective.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tKevin McCormick<\/a> is a veteran sports writer covering the NBA for Heavy.com. After writing for Heavy briefly in 2022, he’s returned to the publication in 2026. McCormick brings with him over seven years of experience writing about the NBA in a newsroom and served as a credentialed reporter of the Philadelphia 76ers for 97.3 ESPN, ClutchPoints, and On SI. More about Kevin McCormick<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Commanders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Analyst raves about Commanders QB Jayden Daniels heading into year three. After putting together a historic rookie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-857959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-commanders","13":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116361019150415491","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857959","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=857959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}