Jayden Daniels compared to Super Bowl MVP, future Hall of Famer

One rival coach who previously "scouted, game-planned for and then faced" Jayden Daniels offered some high praise for the LSU Tigers quarterback while speaking with Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. 

That coach told Feldman he hasn't "coached against someone like" Daniels outside of Kansas City Chiefs star, three-time Super Bowl champion and three-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes. 

"He’s just very hard to defend," the coach said about Daniels. "We tried to force him to run it to take it out of his hands. The throws he makes and the timing he has, I thought was second to none. He throws the deep ball extremely accurately."

While it seems a lock that the Chicago Bears will make USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams the first pick of this year's draft, Daniels' stock has become somewhat of a moving target following his pro day workout and amid predictions made about Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy and North Carolina Tar Heels signal-caller Drake Maye. 

For a mock draft updated on Wednesday, NFL insider Jason La Canfora of The Washington Post forecasted that the Washington Commanders will take McCarthy second overall. 

Meanwhile, Adam Schefter of ESPN remains convinced Washington will grab Daniels at pick No. 2. 

"As a junior (in 2022), he would just hang onto the ball, but he got so much better playing quarterback," a different coach told Feldman about Daniels. "Without him, with as bad as they were on defense, I think they’d win six games. Tops. If there’s a concern if you’re an NFL team, it’s that he will take some shots and he is narrow. How well will he hold up?"

Plenty of experts seem confident Washington isn't too worried about Daniels' size. As of Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Daniels as the betting favorite at -140 odds to be the draft's second pick. At that same time, DraftKings had Maye at +120 odds to go off the board at No. 2. 

"He improved a lot," a third coach said about Daniels. "He’s a really good deep ball thrower with more than above-average arm strength. Those 15-, 20-yard touch throws were better than I thought. He didn’t look like he was that fast, but he just glides and runs by people, and he outruns their angles. ...When you eyeball him before the game, he doesn’t look very big, but he’d lower his shoulder and could take punishment."

Feldman mocked Daniels to Washington despite a previous report that claimed Commanders general manager Adam Peters may prefer McCarthy. 

For what it's worth, ESPN NFL analyst and former quarterback Dan Orlovsky has repeatedly ranked Daniels ahead of Williams this offseason.