Jayden Daniels has had a rough sophomore season, marred by injuries and inconsistent play. That has led many fans to draw parallels with another Washington QB legend, Robert Griffin III, whose career was basically derailed after a similarly explosive start followed by an injury-prone trajectory. Well, RGIII himself has weighed in with advice for Daniels on how to move forward.
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If there’s anyone who knows what Daniels is going through, it’s RGIII. In 2012, he was drafted second overall by Washington. In his rookie season, Griffin dazzled NFL audiences with his dynamic display of speed and arm talent. It led him to win the Rookie of the Year Award and make the Pro Bowl.
However, in the playoffs of his rookie season, Griffin ended up with a devastating knee injury, tearing his LCL, ACL, and meniscus. After that, he was never the same. That’s why Griffin believes the Commanders need to protect Daniels from himself and not let him play again this season.
“My feeling is that he shouldn’t play another game this season,” RGIII advised on Bleacher Report. “It’s not just because you guys are just out of the playoffs… It’s because he’s had like three or four injuries that’s popped up. The team, in my opinion, needs to protect him from himself.”
At 3-10 and on an eight-game losing streak, Washington’s season appears to be over. Not to mention, the team plays the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles two more times to finish the year. With this in mind, it might be time to shut down Daniels.
RGIII went on to express that he doesn’t like how Daniels is often compared to him nowadays.
“He’s not me. His situation is completely different,” the former QB professed. “My advice to him would be, don’t allow the outside noise affect how he leads and what he does and how he plays.”
Daniels suffered a nasty elbow dislocation in a Week 9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Miraculously, he had no ligament or bone damage from the incident and was able to return after just four weeks. But in his first game back, he looked rustier than ever, throwing for only 78 yards on 20 passing attempts, with zero touchdowns and an interception. He also took a hit on a play that forced him to miss the rest of the game.
Coincidentally, the Seahawks were the same team RG3 suffered his knee injury against in 2012.
At the end of the day, Griffin is right. The Commanders should shut down Daniels for the rest of the season to protect him from further injury. There is no point in trotting him out there every week with a losing record. On top of that, he looks out of rhythm and in need of a full reset heading into next year.
