2025 Projection Has Scary Outlook For Commanders' Jayden Daniels

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 9:27 AM ET

We have spoken at length all offseason about the Washington Commanders' offensive line and its ability to protect Jayden Daniels.

Coming off a superb rookie season, the only blight on Daniels was the 47 sacks he took, which was the sixth-most in the league.

Given Jayden's slender build, that is just asking for the injury bug to come and sink its teeth into him. But this offseason, general manager Adam Peters traded for five-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil to help fortify Daniels' protection.

The thought being that keeping Jayden upright will lead to the Commanders' offense running like a well-oiled machine en route to what the franchise hopes is a Super Bowl win.

However, not everyone is convinced that the front five will protect Jayden, and one of those is ESPN's Mike Clay.

In his 2025 projections, Clay has Daniels being sacked 43 times, just four shy of last season - that's nightmare fuel, my friends.

So based on Clay's projections, the addition of Tunsil and the shift to right tackle for Brandon Coleman do little to stop Daniels from being tackled into the turf regularly.

Granted, Clay also projects Daniels to have 146 rushing attempts for 810 yards and seven touchdowns, which is nearly identical to his numbers from 2024.

Still, those sack projections scare us as we don't have to look too far back at Andrew Luck to see the pile-on effect of taking hits regularly.

Yes, we know it is a projection, and Daniels' sack numbers could plummet in Year 2, and in truth, if the Commanders are to get to where they want to go in 2025, they will have to.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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