Commanders OTAs: Jayden Daniels' work ethic has the rookie quarterback making an early impression

That's exactly what you want to hear from one of your best players who was previously very disgruntled. A happy and motivated Allen will do wonders for the Commanders' pass rush and defense, as a whole.

3. Jayden Daniels' work ethic has him in a good place

There was no doubting Daniels' work ethic going into the draft. Plenty of people raved about it and the fact Brian Kelly had to leave the facilities open in order to accommodate Daniels and his teammates is all one needs to know.

Still, it's fair to wonder if that translates to the NFL and if it's a 100% translation, 92% translation, or something worse. Even if the benefit of the doubt is placed on Daniels.

Multiple people spoke about Daniels' work ethic during the week and it sure sounds like he's doing things the exact way he did it at LSU.

"I think what jumps not only off the tape. here, what you guys don't see in the meeting room is just the competitive nature and the learning and the command that he has, already. And so that's something that speaks to his work ethic," said Quinn.

"He looks good," Marcus Mariota told reporters on Wednesday. "I think he really moves well, he throws the ball well, and for a young guy that's coming in, he seems to really command the offense. I think that's very important at the quarterback position - to be able to stand in front of these guys, especially the older players, and nail it and say, I got this, I got it figured out.

"I think he's done a great job of that. We just gotta continue to help him grow and develop. And I think, at the end of the day, when we're all competing in that room, it makes every one of us better."

"It's early, but I mean, he shows the potential," said veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner. "You see the throws, you see the decisions that he's making. You see the confidence that he has [and] you see the work that he's putting in. too. Whether, he's coming in early or whether it's working out or you know, putting into film.

"That's the thing you look for as a vet, you know, somebody that wants it and he's definitely that guy.

It certainly sounds like it's more of a matter of "when" and not "if" Daniels works his way to the top of the depth chart.

4. Don't expect an answer at left tackle anytime soon

The Commanders made a lot of solid moves to improve the roster over the offseason, but there are positions that are still anchored by questions more than answers. Left tackle is at the top of the list.

Cornelius Lucas, a career swing tackle, rookie third-rounder Brandon Coleman, and 2023 fourth-rounder Braeden Daniels are the top candidates for the job. Again, Lucas, while serviceable, has been a career backup, mostly, while Coleman and Daniels have played a grand total of zero offensive snaps.

In other words: The Commanders are going to have to play the long game, here.

"It's gonna take more time," Quinn told reporters. "The reason being, you've seen where we haven't done a lot of team together, we haven't done padded practices together. So we're going to be really strategic as we get to training camp - finding markers and moments to say, 'Ok, you're going to get the first reps today, [and] you'll get the next ones.' And we'll take that process through the preseason and through that process, it'll emerge.

"What we're looking for mainly, is the execution of the offense, honestly."

It makes sense, too. Teams can't evaluate offensive linemen properly without pads. So, we're going to have to wait til those come on before we start making major headway.

5. Veteran leadership is in full effect

One of the most obvious themes of the offseason, if not the most important, was establishing the right culture in the locker room. Additions like Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler, and even rookie defensive back Mike Sainristil are great examples of what the Commanders are looking for in their players.

So, it was great to hear Quinn talk about how the veteran guys are ahead of the curve when it comes to getting things on track.

"You found out early on, you know, I'd asked [rookie tight end] Ben [Sinnot], 'Have you met [tight end] Zach Ertz?' [and he said] 'Yeah, he already reached out to me.' So, knowing they were already ahead of them before they even got here - that's what leadership is all about," said Quinn.

It's all about winning in the NFL, but for Washington in 2024, it's also about creating an infrastructure that can sustain success. That will be key to not only competing this year, but down the road.

6. Joint practices with the Dolphins

The Commanders will partake in joint practices with the Dolphins during the preseason, per Quinn. It's a great opportunity to see how the roster competes against a playoff contender, and, it breaks up the monotony for the players. In all, joint practices are a great resource. It remains to be seen if the Commanders team up with anyone else.

"Right now, we have one joint practice scheduled with Miami," said Quinn. "That will be there and we'll work with them for a day and then have our game. We'll discuss that with some other teams, as we're going in, to see if everything logistics-wise can line up."

7. Commanders offense will be more of a no-huddle unit

You don't have to be an NFL coach to understand that the Commanders offense will look different under Kliff Kingsbury in 2024. Running back Brian Robinson added some extra, valuable insight when he spoke with reporters earlier in the week.

"It's going to be a little bit faster if I'm comparing it to the offense we had last year," said Robinson. "I don't want to go into the detail of what kind of play calls we'll have. I just know the tempo will be faster compared to last year. We had a huddle-type of offense, this offense will be more no-huddle.

"If I can give you an idea of how the offense will go, it will be a no-huddle offense."

Per Sports Info Solutions, 83 of the Commanders dropbacks were of the no-huddle variety in 2023. That ranked 12th out of the 32 NFL teams. They attempted 25 rushing attempts in this context, which ranked 20th. That comes out to a 9.9% rate, overall, after accounting for all of last year's dropbacks and rushing attempts. For context, the Minnesota Vikings, one of the teams that use no-huddle the most, saw basically 16% of its calls labeled as no-huddle tempo.

How much no-huddle the offense uses remains to be seen, but that can be a viable weapon considering Daniels' skill set and the collection of players around him.