Jayden Daniels burst onto the scene in 2024, leading the Washington Commanders to a 12-5 regular season — an eight-game improvement over last year — and an NFC Championship Game appearance. He is the heavy favorite to take home Offensive Rookie of the Year at Thursday night’s NFL Honors ceremony.
At Scoop City’s Super Bowl LIX headquarters, we got some time with Daniels to discuss his first year in the NFL, working with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, what he thinks the Chiefs offense should focus on against the Eagles defense in Super Bowl LIX, and his favorite plays from the season.
Listen to full episodes of the Scoop City Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch on YouTube.
Dianna: You got this first year under your belt, and it’s so difficult to figure out how that first year is going to go. You seem to have so much success because of your poise. Every shot we would see of you on the sideline, it’s like you don’t even have blood pressure. You had no pulse. Nothing shakes you. How do you stay so poised?
Jayden: I just stay in the moment, stay present. I don’t worry about the play before. I don’t worry about the next play. I’m just trying to stay present in the moment.
Dianna: Going back to the draft, Nick Saban went on the record to say that you were the most NFL-ready quarterback. Why do you think you were the most ready?
Jayden: That’s high praise from Nick Saban. Playing him twice. I mean it’s a lot of respect. But I think for me personally, to just go out there and just how I work. Everybody in that draft, I don’t think you could have went wrong with who you picked in our draft class as far as quarterbacks.
Dianna: Your running ability is such a big part of your game. What I’ve noticed is you’ve just done such a good job protecting yourself. What is going through your mind when you’re gaining those yards, you’re running it and your putting your body out there to take shots?
Jayden: I think it’s a fine line situation. Like, the moment of the game, if we’re down or it’s a big third-down conversion and I have to go put my body on the line, I will. But if it was early on in the game — tie game — you got to think about, you’ve got to play 17 games and then hopefully more. You got to be available for that.
Dianna: How would you describe Kliff Kingsbury as a playcaller when people ask you about him? How do you say it?
Jayden: Very creative and he wants the best for his players. Throughout the week, I’ll send clips of stuff that I think will work this week and he’ll put it in, or he’ll show me stuff and it’s like how did you even come up with that? Kliff, when he watches film, he watches all 32 teams and what they did. Kliff is crazy.
Dianna: For people that have been trying to figure out what it is about your relationship that works for you and Kliff, you obviously have tons of respect. You understand his experience, his intelligence. What do you think he did well, though, to put you in the position that you were in this year to make this transition look really smooth?
Jayden: I think we just had answers for different stuff. Passing-wise we had answers, or even a run game — I mean, with RPOs and stuff like that. In the passing game, we had answers for the different coverages they might show us. So it was like, if they want to go cover-2, we have an answer for this in this concept. He just gave me the freedom to go out there and be me, which was a big thing.
Dianna: Whenever we talk about quarterbacks having success we always refer to what their coaches are doing to put them in that position. And one of the things that we praised Kliff for was the fact that he was taking some stuff from LSU for you. Yet you see other coaches don’t do that with their quarterbacks. Why would you not give them something they’re comfortable doing? How much is that part of what made you feel ready because you ran so much of the stuff that you’ve done before?
Jayden: Nobody in that organization or anything has an ego. Kliff was like, this is my offense and this is how I ran it (referring to Daniels). This is the scheme I’m doing. He’s open to if anybody has suggestions, he’s open to what we do best (as individuals). He wants us to go out there and just play our best.
Dianna: He told me that you once — I think was preseason — you’d shoot him a text about what play you wanted to run in the opening drive. It’s your rookie year and you’re already telling the coach what you’re going to do. He’s like, yeah, we’re not doing that. You actually wound up doing it, though. I think you did. So that being said, I feel like you have this natural need and want to maybe be an OC because you are a playcaller yourself. Let’s say you are Andy Reid or Matt Nagy and you are the OC in this Super Bowl. What are you focused on in terms of playing against this Eagles defense? What do you think they need to do? How would you approach this Sunday’s game if you’re Kansas City.
Jayden: For one, you got to try to take away the front that the Eagles have.
Dianna: Jalen Carter’s not going anywhere.
Jayden: You got to try to slow him down. That’s what you do with great players. Try to slow him down and find completions. The Eagles defense prides itself on negative plays. Pat (Mahomes), obviously, he’s been doing this for a long time. He’s been in the Super Bowl. I can’t really tell him too much what he could do. For me, just try to take away the negative plays. They feed off of that and just go out there and be you.
Dianna: You hear all the stories about that Washington franchise for so many years, you weren’t there for it. You just hear the stories and I’m sure you’ve read some articles and and I’m sure some of it blows your mind. Is there anything that you observe from this fan base, though, after this year that stands out to you, knowing that it’s just been a really hard few decades for them.
Jayden: How passionate they are. Before I even got drafted, I didn’t really know Washington. As we went in and we got later on the season, they started coming out. You see everybody with flags and and stuff they are bringing out. They’re watching the game and they’re super passionate. I’m excited that I am a part of the organization and I get to play in front of this fan base.
Dianna: You’re number five. Donovan McNabb, right? That’s the reason, because of the picture of you wearing that Donovan McNabb jersey. What are your top five favorite plays from this season? I just need the game and the play call. I know you know them so they don’t have to be in order best to greatest. But what stands out to you? Just give me five that you can rattle off that you’re like, oh that was good.
Jayden: Play calls is tough. We’d be giving our plays away because we say a lot. I’ll say in no order. The Cincinnati game (in Week 3) on a third down, I threw to Terry (McLaurin) for a touchdown. Philly game at home (in Week 16) — the second time we played them — the game-winning touchdown. The Hail Mary is in there (against the Chicago Bears in Week 8). It has to be in there.
Dianna: It has to be in there.
Jayden: No play call there. I would say favorite plays — fourth-and-2 versus Tampa in the (wild card) playoff game. And I would say that the last one would be the Detroit game (NFC divisional round) where I threw the bomb to Dyami Brown. Those are my favorite plays.
Dianna: Here’s what’s funny. Our team was like, he’s not going to be able to just pull five plays. I said he’s the quarterback. He’s going to remember his five favorite plays. Once you started to think about it, it came right to you.
(Photo: Christian Peterson/Getty Images)
