Jayden Daniels had quite the stellar and mercurial rookie campaign with the Washington Commanders. He threw for just over 3500 yards and added another 891 on the ground last season. This dynamic playmaking ability, combined with his synergy with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, led to the former LSU star winning Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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The 24-year-old quarterback recently shared a bit of inside information on how he led the offense to such great heights last season — while, of course, padding his own stats along the way. He revealed that the Kingsbury-led offense is built around pro-style concepts. And interestingly, they don’t even need to huddle.
Daniels would often call quick, muddle huddles after each play, and that would be enough. His players already know where to line up from there, which also gives the opposing defense less time to regroup. And if anything unexpected comes up, Daniels can always fall back on hand signals.
“I think for us, we got pro-style concepts,” Daniels told Jon Gruden on his podcast. “We just, we don’t huddle half the time. Or a majority of the time, I would say. Not even half of the time. Sometimes we might huddle. It’s like a little muddle huddle, where I’m like speaking to everybody. Might give a little hand signal here and there. But it’s unique and it fits us.”
Kingsbury clearly runs a style where he doesn’t allow the defense to get set or make substitutions. So, Daniels and the rest of the offense need to be fully synced at all times when they’re on the field. This approach helps them stay unpredictable.
Gruden went on to tell the Commanders QB that he never knew what to expect whenever the ball was snapped by them last season. He also warned Daniels that other teams will be focusing on him and the Commanders in the offseason, making them a top priority to study. So, Daniels better be ready for defensive adjustments.
Daniels, however, welcomed the challenge.
“I just think, as a competitor, you’re always trying to find little ways to get better. For me, it’s like, last year is last year. That’s great. But it’s a whole new year now, and I still have to go out there and prove myself to my teammates, organization each and every day that I’m getting better,” said the QB.
“And then when it’s time to prepare and those games come, I gotta know how I can eliminate some tendencies. Because that’s the big thing. Coaches are always trying to find tendencies,” he added.
Gruden responded by saying that Daniels is a head coach’s dream, and he’s right. He’s shown no signs of complacency or satisfaction with what he accomplished last season. Even though Daniels and the Commanders exceeded expectations on their way to an NFC Championship game appearance, they are hungry for more this season.
If you need more evidence that Daniels is a franchise-caliber QB, then here it is. He’s unselfish and smart with a knack and love for the game. Additionally, his dual-threat ability makes him quite a unique player.
