Jayden Daniels

Jayden Daniels (born December 18, 2000) is an American professional football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Daniels played three seasons of college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He played two more with the LSU Tigers, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2023 after leading the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in total yards and setting its single-season passer rating record.

Daniels was selected by the Commanders second overall in the 2024 NFL draft. He set several rookie records while leading the Commanders to their most wins in a season and first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors. A walk-off touchdown pass thrown by Daniels during the final seconds of a game, known as the Hail Maryland, was also named the season's Moment of the Year. His second season was marred by injury, with him missing the majority of the season.

Early life

Daniels was born in Fontana, California, on December 18, 2000, and raised in nearby San Bernardino. Daniels began playing flag football as a cornerback at age five and Pop Warner tackle football at age seven, where he moved to quarterback. He also ran track and played basketball and soccer as a youth before starting his freshman year at Cajon High School in 2015. Daniels initially needed a medical note to play due to being considered undersized by the team's coach at 125 pounds (57 kilograms). He started on Cajon's varsity team as a freshman and led the team to the 2015 CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS) Inland Division semifinals.

Daniels broke the little finger of his right hand attempting to recover a fumble in the first game of his 2016 sophomore season but played the rest of the season. He set a state record in 2017 with over 6,400 total yards in his junior season, leading Cajon to a Citrus Belt League (CBL) championship and an appearance in the Division 2-AA state finals. He led Cajon to another CBL championship and an appearance in the CIF-SS Division 3 championship as a senior in 2018. He was the men's recipient of the Ken Hubbs Award, given annually the top high school athletes in the San Bernardino area.

Daniels played 53 games at Cajon and set CIF-SS records with 210 touchdowns and over 17,600 total yards. He also participated in hurdling and the 100-meters, 200-meters, 400-meters, and 4 × 100-meters relay sprints at the school. He participated in the 2018 Elite 11 quarterback skills competition, sitting out of the finals due to a practice injury, and threw the game-winning touchdown in the 2019 Under Armour High School All-America Game. Daniels was ranked a four-star prospect and the top dual-threat quarterback of his class by college recruiting website 247Sports and received 25 college football scholarship offers before choosing the Sun Devils of Arizona State University (ASU) in December 2018. He graduated from Cajon and enrolled at ASU in January 2019.

College career

Arizona State (2019–2021)

Daniels was named the starter for the Sun Devils' 2019 season after winning a quarterback competition against Joey Yellen in the offseason. He was the first Sun Devils freshman quarterback to start opening week. He earned Pac-12 Conference offensive player of the week honors for week 13 in a 31–28 upset win over the No. 6 ranked Oregon Ducks after passing for 408 yards and three touchdowns, including an 81-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk with under four minutes remaining. He was named the most valuable player of the 2019 Sun Bowl in a win over the Florida State Seminoles. Daniels set the Sun Devils' freshman passing yards record and was named to ESPN's freshman All-American team.

In the 2020 season, Daniels and the Sun Devils played only four games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He earned offensive player of the week honors against UCLA in week 5 of the 2021 season with two touchdown passes to Ricky Pearsall of over 50 yards. He led the Pac-12 in completion percentage (65.4%) for the season and guided the team to a 8–4 record and an appearance in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl. After the season, several of the team's coaches resigned or were fired following an NCAA investigation into COVID guideline violations that prohibited hosting recruits and off-campus travel for team staff; Daniels' mother Regina was also implicated in helping pay for flight tickets. Daniels entered the NCAA transfer portal in February 2022.

LSU (2022–2023)

Daniels transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU) in March 2022 to play for the Tigers. He competed with Garrett Nussmeier and Myles Brennan in camp and was named the starter for the 2022 season. In October, Daniels threw two touchdowns and ran for over 100 yards and three touchdowns in a win against No. 7 ranked Ole Miss, giving the Rebels their first loss of the season and earning Southeastern Conference (SEC) offensive player of the week honors. Daniels earned another player of the week honor against the No. 6 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide the following game after running for a 25-yard touchdown with a two-point conversion pass in overtime to win 32–31. He led the Tigers to a 9–3 regular season record and an appearance in the 2022 SEC Championship Game against the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Daniels, playing on a sprained ankle, left the game after being sacked by Jalen Carter late in the second quarter. He returned for the 2023 Citrus Bowl against the Purdue Boilermakers and caught a touchdown pass thrown by wide receiver Malik Nabers in a 63–7 win. Daniels was named a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and was voted the team's most valuable player after accounting for 28 touchdowns and nearly 3,800 total yards.

Daniels was named one of the team captains prior to the 2023 season. In Week 3 and 4, he earned SEC offensive player of the week honors after scoring four total touchdowns each against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Arkansas Razorbacks. Daniels earned another player of the week honor two weeks later with four total touchdowns against the Missouri Tigers. He sustained a concussion from a hit by Dallas Turner in a week 9 game against No. 8 ranked Alabama and left the game. Daniels returned the following week against the Florida Gators and became the first player in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history to have 350 passing and 200 rushing yards in a game. He tied an SEC record a week later against the Georgia State Panthers with eight total touchdowns. For the season, Daniels threw for 40 touchdowns and rushed for 10, led the NCAA with nearly 5,000 total yards, and set the FBS single-season passer rating record. His performance earned him the 2023 Heisman Trophy and Walter Camp Award among other college football player of the year awards; he was the third LSU player to win the Heisman after Billy Cannon in 1959 and Joe Burrow in 2019. He also won the Davey O'Brien, Manning, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards, earned Consensus All-American and All-SEC honors, and was named the SEC's offensive player and male athlete of the year. Daniels sat out of the ReliaQuest Bowl in January to prepare for the NFL draft. He finished his college career with 16,000 total yards in 55 games, ranking top ten in FBS history.

Statistics

Professional career

Washington Commanders (2024–present)

2024 season

Daniels was selected second overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft. He was the second of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tying the 1983 draft for the most in NFL history. In the offseason, Daniels and former LSU teammate Malik Nabers received guidance from the league on its gambling policy for proposing a friendly US$10,000 bet on which of the two would earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He acquired uniform number 5 in a non-monetary arrangement with Tress Way, who had worn it with the team since 2014. Daniels signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $37.75 million fully guaranteed, on June 14, 2024. He was named the Commanders' starting quarterback by the end of training camp.

Daniels scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut in a loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; his first win occurred the following week against the New York Giants. In a week 3 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, he earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring three touchdowns and setting the NFL rookie completion percentage record (91.3%). He was later named the Offensive Rookie of the Month for September after completing the highest percentage of passes (82.1%) over a four-game span in NFL history. Daniels suffered a rib fracture against the Carolina Panthers in October after two defenders landed on him at the end of a 46-yard run in the first quarter; he was later ruled out for the rest of the game. He returned the following week against the Chicago Bears and threw a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown as time expired to wide receiver Noah Brown to win 18–15. The play, dubbed the Hail Maryland, was later named the Moment of the Year at the 14th NFL Honors award ceremony. In December he became the sixth rookie in NFL history to throw five touchdowns in a game, doing so in a 36–33 comeback win against the Philadelphia Eagles.