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What Commanders’ Jayden Daniels is ‘eliminating’ that will make him truly unstoppable

Originally posted on NFL on ClutchPoints
By Zachary Weinberger | Last updated May 8, 2025 5:35 PM ET

As Washington Commanders star Jayden Daniels prepares to excel in his second year in the NFL, there is an aspect of a young player’s life that one looks to overcome, which is the sophomore slump. While the Commanders made exciting offseason additions to help Daniels this upcoming year, the quarterback is still working through the kinks to avoid a regression.

Daniels wouldn’t be alone if he were to not reach his rookie numbers, as many of the top players in the NFL impressed their first year, but came back down to Earth in the second. Still, Daniels wants to avoid, as he said to Yahoo Sports, that he is “trying to eliminate some tendencies” to avoid a regression.

“I’m sitting down and watching film and trying to eliminate some tendencies, as much as possible,” Daniels said. “Talking to the coaching staff on areas that they feel like I need to improve on and having conversations so we can all hit at full speed.”

With opposing teams now having a full year’s worth of tape on Daniels, defenses are foaming at the mouth in unleashing their possible kryptonite against him. However, on top of adapting to that, Daniels has the talent to overmatch it, as a key reason for the success last season was having “positive energy.”

“The whole energy thing and positive energy — that plays a part,” Daniels said. “Obviously the magnitude of stuff is different now, but, at the end of the day, you still gotta be able to tap into that inner kid.”

Commanders’ Jayden Daniels on being “comfortable” on offense

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs with the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

With the Commanders’ quarterback having the full attention of the rest of the league, there’s no denying that other teams will focus on slowing Daniels down. Besides Daniels himself, it will be up to offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to help the young star be put in the best possible position to succeed.

“He wanted me to be as comfortable as possible,” Daniels on his relationship with Kingsbury. “We had conversations like, ‘I didn’t like this’ or ‘I don’t like that.’ He might have argued a little bit, but ultimately he wouldn’t call a play that I wasn’t comfortable with.”

On top of helping Daniels, the team added such pieces as wide receiver Deebo Samuel in giving the LSU product another dynamic weapon in the passing game. Speaking about the former San Francisco 49er, Daniels would say how “versatile” a pass-catcher Samuel is and what he’ll add to Washington.

“Obviously Deebo’s a very versatile player,” Daniels said. “He’s a playmaker once you get the ball in your hand. After the catch, he does what he does. So, just being able to acquire a guy like that, I’m super excited to continue to work with him. And we’ll go from there.”

With the Commanders being led by Daniels, the team looks to improve after finishing with a 12-5 record, which put them second in the NFC East.

This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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