Dan Quinn changes the game to make Jayden Daniels conquer any defense in Year 2

Jayden Daniels set himself a ridiculously high bar for which to aim throughout his career.

The Washington Commanders quarterback propelled himself to superstardom and into the elite conversation in Year 1. Now, it's about putting in the hard yards to make sure this becomes the start of something that could see him enshrined in Canton one day.

And head coach Dan Quinn is leaning on the attention to detail to help Daniels take that next step.

Most fans and analysts thought Daniels would be good at the pro level. Not many thought he'd put together arguably the greatest rookie quarterback campaign in NFL history, surging the Commanders from irrelevancy to the NFC Championship game for good measure.

Commanders getting Jayden Daniels fully prepared for upcoming Year 2 challenges

History is littered with quarterbacks who start incredibly and tail off just as fast. The Commanders gave Daniels an improved supporting cast this offseason to keep complications to a minimum. Quinn also revealed to Cameron Wolfe from the NFL Network that there's a stronger emphasis on going through defensive formations and scheme variations with the signal-caller to prepare him for the stiff challenges that lie ahead.

Dan Quinn told me he's been spending more meeting time with Jayden Daniels talking defensive tendencies, schemes, ways teams are going to try to [take] advantage of him in year two. One example he gave me is they ran hundreds more no-huddle offensive plays last year than any other team. They had tremendous success with them. But defenses are going to find an answer to it, so they've been working a lot this offseason on beyond the no-huddle. Getting into huddle, how to handle different blitzes and scheme changes so that Jayden Daniels can be ahead of the changes that defenses bring to him.Cameron Wolfe via Clutch Points

Daniels won't be sneaking up on people this time around. But having an elite defensive mind like Quinn to lend his expertise is an exceptional tool.

The Commanders' expectations have risen considerably sooner than even the most optimistic fan thought possible. Daniels is a big reason why, and his mentality to be the very best will guarantee complacency becomes the last thing on anyone's mind.

Any more growth from Daniels next season should put the Commanders right in the thick of things once again. If the incoming recruits all make their presence felt, those already around build on a phenomenal 2024 campaign, and Quinn rallies his troops to a positive start, they might even have enough to topple the Philadelphia Eagles and win the conference.

If this scenario comes to fruition, Daniels will be in the NFL MVP running. And Quinn's strategy will have paid off handsomely.

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