Jayden Daniels reveals 'main focus' for improving after stellar rookie season

Quarterback Jayden Daniels looked like a potential future superstar as he guided the Washington Commanders to this year's NFC Championship Game and ran away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the 2024 season.

Daniels nevertheless understands he must "prove" himself as an NFL QB1 each year. During a recent chat with Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, Daniels spoke about how reviewing game film from his debut pro campaign showed him what he needed to work on during his first offseason as a full-time NFL starter. 

"My main focus was on how I can improve mechanically from Year 1 to Year 2," Daniels said. "…You kind of just see your tendencies and what you think some people will try to use against you going into the next season."

Some viewed Daniels and not Caleb Williams as the top quarterback prospect in the 2024 draft before the Chicago Bears took Williams with the first pick of the player-selection process. Washington happily grabbed Daniels at No. 2, and he was better than advertised as he helped the club win 12 of 17 regular-season games. 

Per Pro Football Reference, Daniels finished his rookie season ranked fourth in the league among qualified quarterbacks with a 70.6 adjusted QBR. According to StatMuse, he was seventh in the NFL with 4,459 combined passing and rushing yards, and he was ninth with 31 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. 

"I think that’s always going to be the biggest piece, is fine-tuning the footwork," Daniels told Jhabvala. "And obviously, another year in the system, I was more comfortable, so I could tie in different footwork with different concepts that I think [offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury] would call just working that all offseason. …Just another year of understanding my body and understanding how to get certain throws off of different drops or different movements and how to still get the right throw if I’m throwing clean, if I have to move right or move left, and stuff like that on the run."

For an article posted in July, league executives, coaches and scouts surveyed by ESPN ranked Daniels as the NFL's fifth-best quarterback for 2025. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Daniels fifth among the betting favorites at +750 odds to claim the Most Valuable Player Award for the upcoming season. 

The 24-year-old seemingly is doing his best to ignore such information as he works to become a more complete quarterback. 

"More accurate, can throw farther for sure," Daniels added during his comments. "And then the velocity. So if I need to let one rip…so defenders aren’t able to pick the ball off because of how fast the ball is traveling. It all ties into that for sure."

Daniels will get an opportunity to show how he's grown when the Commanders open the 2025 season with a home game against the New York Giants on Sept. 7. On Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook had Washington as a 6.5-point favorite for that matchup.