“Jayden Daniels Is the Patrick Mahomes of NFC”: Colin Cowherd Ranks the Rookie QB as Best in His Conference

At the start of the 2024 season playoffs, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Detroit Lions were the four most likely teams to make Conference Championship weekend. Everything almost went to plan—until rookie Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders stepped in to upset the Lions. The NFL has not seen anything like the rookie season Daniels has put together, and Colin Cowherd is ready to crown him as the best for it.

The Commanders will now take on the Eagles in the NFC Championship on Sunday. While Philly’s Jalen Hurts already brought his team to the Super Bowl in 2022, Cowherd (and he’s not alone in this) believes Daniels is the better QB. He even went so far as to call him the “Patrick Mahomes of the NFC.”

“If you go to the last 10 Super Bowl teams in the NFC, you have 10 different QBs. It’s a bunch of guys who you have to say, well if Jordan Love wasn’t as reckless, or if Matt Stafford was younger, and I like Jared Goff if the O-line is right, Brock Purdy needs the right coach… Jayden Daniels is the Mahomes of the NFC. That pecking order will start with him, starting next year. I don’t think it’s a reach, I don’t think it’s hyperbolic.”

While the AFC’s holy trinity of QBs from the last generation—Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger—have been replaced by Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Allen, and Burrow, the NFC doesn’t have similar quality at the QB position right now. Cowherd, however, believes Daniels is going to join those AFC “rockstars” in the elite QB convo.

Tom Brady reveals why Jayden Daniels is so unique

While he will likely go on to win this year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Daniels didn’t have a hot start in the league. He was 1-1 to start the season, with a blowout loss to the Buccaneers and a tight win over the Giants. He hadn’t even thrown a TD pass through those first two weeks. And yet, Daniels’ confidence did not take a hit. He has that innate confidence that Tom Brady believes separates him from the rest.

“Some players need production to become confident. Some people become confident before they have any production. That’s a great trait to have as an athlete. Before you walk on the field, you’re confident. You don’t need to complete your first five passes to become confident, and I think that’s what I see in a young Jayden Daniels.”

Cowherd’s Mahomes-Daniels take would usually be laughed out of the room. But considering Daniels is in the final four, it’s kind of hard to argue. His reservations about the other top NFC QBs were all valid as well.

Not to mention that Daniels probably had a worse supporting cast than all those other NFC guys. Apart from Terry McLaurin, there are no Pro Bowl-caliber players on that Commanders’ offense. The offensive line is particularly poor, with Daniels sporting an 8.92 sack rate this year, the 6th-highest in the league among QBs with 10+ starts. Even with that group, Daniels was able to lead the league in 4th-down rate, with a whopping 87.0 percent.

“[Jayden Daniels] is now playing for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Which does not make any sense. But what makes even less sense is a statistic from this regular season. He has one elite weapon, and a below average roster. Jayden Daniels and Washington had the highest fourth-down conversion rate in the regular season… “

Daniels’ dual-threat ability, paired with his poise and calm under pressure, makes it nearly impossible to stop the Commanders on 4th and short. That was never more clear than in their Divisional Round win over the Lions, when they went 3-for-4 in crucial 4th-down situations.

We’ll see if the moment gets too big for Daniels on Sunday in the NFC Championship. While we’re not sure his team will triumph, we doubt he’ll be anything but cool, calm, and collected—even in the face of Philly’s notoriously voracious fans.