Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5). Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Could a Commanders star be the next surprise MVP contender?

Originally posted on Washington Commanders on SI
By David Harrison | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 11:00 AM ET

We'll give you five guesses as to who the most likely winner of the NFL MVP Award would be if he came from the Washington Commanders' roster.

We're going to guess you'll only need one, because as we all know, it is a quarterback award and there's only one guy all Commanders fans expect to see playing that position in 2025 outside of the occasional blowout win or end of season unimportant second half against a division rival.

So, when NFL.com's Eric Edholm sat down to predict one MVP candidate from every NFC team, he didn't have to look further down the Washington jersey number list than No. 5.

"Daniels emerged as one of the most precocious and productive rookies in recent memory, rivaling the Year 1 output of the likes of Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott and virtually any other first-year QB you can summon. Dragging the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game after two road playoff victories might even put him on a different plateau entirely.

"With that comes some massive -- and perhaps unfair -- expectations in Year 2. There are some positive developments that could help Daniels, with the additions of Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil to an offense that averaged more than 28 points per game a year ago, even if a possible Terry McLaurin holdout looms. It also doesn't hurt that Washington's defense could put Daniels in a slew of shootouts this season, potentially beefing up his numbers."

Beefed up numbers sounds good for fantasy football enthusiasts who land Daniels on their rosters this season, but not so good for the blood pressure of Commanders fans who would rather have some comfortable wins over the amount of last-play victories the team survived in 2024.

If he can pull off an MVP season, Daniels will join the likes of Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Kurt Warner who all won the award in their second NFL season.