Despite his seeming lack of agency in the situation, rumors have persisted that LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels prefers not to be drafted by the Commanders.
Washington holds the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, though, so unless Daniels becomes a favorite for No. 1 over USC’s Caleb Williams all of the sudden, it’s up to the Commanders to make that decision.
A recent report from Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports attempted to dispel the rumors, claiming that talk that Daniels' agent was unhappy about the quarterback's visit with the Commanders has been overblown.
The rumors seemed to stem from two different instances. The first was a report that Daniels would love to be drafted by the Raiders.
Realistically, this would either require a huge trade up from Las Vegas’ current spot at 13th overall, or Daniels would need to somehow slip back far enough to still be available by then. The rumor stems from the fact that Daniels and new Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce are familiar with each other from the time the two shared at Arizona State.
The second instance was Daniels’ “top 30” visit with the Commanders. Washington took a strange approach in its “top 30” visits with the draft’s quarterbacks.
Instead of hosting each quarterback on their own individual visit, the Commanders invited Daniels, UNC’s Drake Maye, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. at the same time. Based on reports that Daniels was caught off guard by this, they seemingly designed the group visit without informing the prospects that their competition would be in attendance.
Still, despite the surprise nature of the visit, it doesn’t seem like there are any hard feelings. Vacchiano reports that any issues have been settled, as the two sides have since spoken.
Daniels hasn’t taken the issue personally, and the Commanders view the reported issue as “just noise” that won’t contribute to their eventual decision.
If Washington decides that Jayden Daniels is the answer moving forward, they will select him. And, based on a statement from one of Daniels’ representatives, he is “excited” to be in the NFL, regardless of wherever he gets drafted.
Does this confirm or dispel rumors that he has a preference? No, but it likely provides assurance that he won’t force the issue later this month.
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