What's one secret behind Jayden Daniels' success with Commanders?

Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels proves young quarterbacks shouldn't be in a rush to leave college and enter the NFL.

An Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist, Daniels has guided the Commanders to their first NFC Championship game in 33 years. If they beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, the 24-year-old will become the first rookie QB to reach the Super Bowl. 

Daniels — who starred for five seasons at LSU and Arizona State and attempted 1,438 passes — attributes his success to his college experience.

"It helped out a lot, just to be able to see different looks, see different defenses, go through a lot of different things," Daniels told the Associated Press' Rob Maaddi in a piece published Thursday. "The greatest teacher in life is failure, so to be able to go out there, fail a couple of times, get some reps. ... All those reps that built up helped me get to where I am today." 

Former New York Giants QB Eli Manning — a two-time Super Bowl champion — pointed out that college and NFL offenses now overlap. This could give QBs who stay in school an edge.

"The more reps you get, the more defense you see, the more experience you get with learning an offense," Manning told Maaddi. "The offensive systems in the NFL and college aren't that different anymore. It doesn't take necessarily years. It's just kind of learning about defenses, learning about different blitzes."

Some teams have recently bet on quarterbacks with little college experience, and it hasn't worked. 

Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson — the fourth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft — attempted 393 passes in three seasons at Florida. In two seasons with the Colts, he has an 8-7 starting record and has posted a below-average 67.8 passer rating. 

The San Francisco 49ers selected QB Trey Lance with pick No. 3 in 2021. Lance attempted 318 passes in three seasons at North Dakota State. After he completed 54.9% of his passes in two seasons with the Niners, they traded him to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick in 2023.

More teams should consider taking prospects who have played plenty of college football. Daniels' college career clearly helped lay the groundwork for his phenomenal rookie season.