Commanders teammate shares how Jayden Daniels is similar to Andrew Luck

Long before quarterback Andrew Luck became one of the biggest "what could have been" stories in NFL history, he and Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz were teammates at Stanford. 

Ertz recently spoke with ESPN's John Keim about how Washington signal-caller Jayden Daniels, the presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winner for this season, is similar to Luck.

"Andrew had a gravitational pull," Ertz explained. "Guys just wanted to be around him. He just wanted to be one of the guys and Jayden is very similar. Guys just want to be around him because he doesn't view himself as anyone other than one of the guys." 

Luck possessed Hall of Fame talent and earned four Pro Bowl nods during a career cut short by injuries, which ended when the first pick of the 2012 NFL Draft retired at 29 ahead of the 2019 regular season. As for Daniels, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady compared the 24-year-old to global sports icon Tiger Woods. 

"He has that poise and confidence," Brady said about Daniels on the latest edition of the "Let's Go!" SiriusXM show and podcast.

On Thursday, Manny Gomez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com noted how analysts such as ESPN's Dan Orlovsky seemingly have been waiting for Daniels to hit a figurative wall because "he’s a rookie quarterback." According to the StatMuse website, Daniels leads all players with a combined 654 passing and rushing yards for the postseason. Per ESPN, he's ranked first for the playoffs with an 86.8 adjusted QBR. 

In short, people may want to stop assuming that Daniels's cool and calm demeanor will cause the Commanders to lose to the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday.

"His approach to the game has really been different compared to a lot of people I've been around," Ertz added about Daniels. "A lot of times when you're young there's a lot of trial and error and oftentimes, you're reactionary in terms of how your process is: 'After I fail a couple times maybe I'll do X, Y and Z more.' Whereas Jayden from the moment he first got here he was the first one in the building studying as much as possible."

As of Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Washington as a six-point road underdog against Philadelphia. Proving doubters wrong would be nothing new for Daniels, who is now four quarters away from advancing to the stage of a postseason tournament Luck never reached during his career.