Jayden Daniels is the NFL’s Greatest Rookie Ever
During the NFL Honors show, Washington Commanders’ star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year for the 2024-25 season. Daniels received an astounding 49 of 50 first-place votes, trailing Brock Bowers and Bo Nix. The star-studded rookie is looking to make football history.
Going into the 2024 NFL Draft, most scouts were unaware of Jayden Daniels’s offensive prowess. As talented as Daniels was towards the end of his college career, earning the Heisman in 2023 while throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns, experts did not consider him the best player in the draft class. Most experts saw USC quarterback and D.C. native Caleb Williams as the best prospect in a draft class full of talent. That meant nothing for the Washington Commanders as they had finished the 2023 season 4-13; they had earned the second pick in the draft, where they sought the future face of the franchise.
The Commanders’ turmoil and controversy had piled up high enough that by 2023 a drastic change needed to be made. After many lawsuits, long-time owner Dan Snyder sold the team to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion in the most expensive sports team purchase ever.
The following season, after finishing 4-13, the rebuild continued with the hire of first-time general manager Adam Peters. He instantly made an impact on his arrival by bringing in talented veteran players such as Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, and Austin Ekeler. Then came the arrival of veteran head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The final piece of the puzzle was Jayden Daniels, selected with the second pick in the 2024 draft. They worked to maximize the assets the struggling franchise had with their rookie quarterback at the helm. After decades of disappointment, the Commanders were finally rebuilding a winning culture.
After Commanders (once Redskins) fans had to deal with the inconsistency of having 27 different starting quarterbacks, 10 head coaches, four division titles, and no Super Bowl appearances over 24 seasons, they had grown irate, but their loyalty never faded. The worst of this pain came from the career-altering injuries to another rookie great in the team’s history, Robert Griffin III. After three promising years from 2012 to 2015, the whole city was heartbroken by his departure. Jayden Daniels was walking into a franchise that hadn’t seen success in decades, so expectations were high.
In a historic season, Daniels led the Commanders to 12 wins and an NFC championship appearance, where they lost to eventual Super Bowl LIX champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. This was the most successful season since 1991 when the Commanders won Super Bowl XXVI against the Buffalo Bills. After throwing for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns while rushing for 891 yards—breaking the rookie record—he put together one of the greatest statistical seasons by a rookie in NFL history. This earned him a spot in this year’s Pro Bowl.
Daniels has helped the Commanders know the taste of victory once again, and there is more to come in the JD5 era.
