ASHBURN, Va. — Jayden Daniels has the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game, and his list of admirers around the league continues to grow.
Just this week, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called Daniels “a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape.” C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans believes Daniels has “had the best rookie year of all time.”
If he and the Commanders beat the Eagles on Sunday, Daniels would become the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl. And even as the hype train picks up speed, Daniels remains the same laser-focused competitor and down-to-earth person he was when he walked through the door as the second pick in the draft.
“He stays as even-keeled as any player I’ve ever been around,” top receiver Terry McLaurin said Wednesday. “We’ve played in some of the most hostile environments, we’ve been playing on some of the biggest stages and he’s treating it the same each and every week. I love that about him.”
Daniels is making a strong case to back up Stroud’s opinion. The 24-year-old out of LSU is the first player in franchise history to throw for 25 touchdown passes with fewer than 10 interceptions, and his 891 yards rushing are the most of any rookie QB in NFL history.
After winning the Heisman Trophy in college and becoming the overwhelming favorite to win AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, Daniels said he was “not even thinking that far” about making the Super Bowl and the trail he would be blazing by facing the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
“It would obviously be a blessing, but I’m just focused on how can I be better day by day,” Daniels said. “There’s countless teams that want to be in this position. … You can’t really take it for granted, but you also just got to be in the moment.”
No problem there. Coach Dan Quinn likens Daniels on the sideline to “The Terminator” because of his steely-eyed demeanor and avoidance of distractions.
On the field, Daniels has led the Commanders to six consecutive victories — winning the first five on the final play of scrimmage and beating the 15-win Lions 45-31 in Detroit. He has thrown for 17 TDs during this stretch, and while Washington is an underdog at Philadelphia, Daniels’ magic is the biggest reason to think the Commanders could pull off another upset.
“He’s got rare, in-the-moment skills that have allowed us to be into this spot,” Quinn said. “When it’s mental chaos going down and two minutes (left) and these tight moments where it can feel that tight, he’s got the experience of somebody that’s played a lot more football than a first-year player.”
Daniels isn’t sure when teammates stopped treating him like a rookie. It was Week 8 after his Hail Mary pass to Noah Brown when veteran tight end Zach Ertz asked that everyone outside the organization stop acting like Daniels is a rookie because he had seen signs of it for months.
“He was very proactive in his approach to being great,” said Ertz, who helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl seven years ago. “A lot of times when you’re young in the league, it’s a lot of trial and error to see what works for you. And, oftentimes, you’re reactionary in terms of how your process is. And it’s like, ’Oh, after I failed a couple times, maybe I’ll do X, Y and Z a little more.’ Whereas Jayden, the moment he first got here, he was the first one in the building studying as much as possible.”
Daniels, who still warms up with a basketball and loves that sport, too, earned the reputation of being a gym rat during offseason practices. He showed up early to take part in walkthroughs before others and stayed late to make sure he got the playbook down pat.
Quinn, himself one win from returning to the Super Bowl eight years since he and the Atlanta Falcons lost to New England, appreciates Daniels’ competitiveness but respects even more how much stems from the rookie’s preparation.
“There’s a feeling of being a leg up, and doing that type of extra work sometimes just also provides the right motivation for yourself: ‘I’ve seen that look. I’m ready,’” Quinn said. “You’ve done the work at it, so when the moment comes, you’re ready to deliver.”
Daniels has delivered Washington’s best season-to-season win improvement from 4-13 to 12-5, and he has been the centerpiece of an offense that has 10 games with zero turnovers — the most for the franchise since at least 1940, according to Sportradar.
Each step along the way, Daniels has shown that no situation is too much pressure for him, something he credits to football being a fun escape for him.
“I’m not really going out there and stressing about the moment because at the end of the day I get to do what I love each and every week win, lose or draw,” Daniels said. “It’s just a blessing to be one of those kids that are able to fulfill their dream and live out their dream of playing on Sundays in the NFL.”
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AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken in Houston and Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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