Former Washington head coach Jay Gruden is a big of Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, Gruden made it clear that if he were still with his old franchise, Daniels would be his choice as the second overall pick.
These days, Gruden is a weekly guest on the Washington, D.C. radio show, “Grant and Danny” on 106.7 The Fan, where he breaks down the Commanders and the rest of the NFL. Regardless of what one thinks of Gruden’s time as Washington’s coach, the former college quarterback provides excellent insight.
So, what did he think of Daniels in his second NFL start against the New York Giants?
“Solid. Second game and he did not turn the ball over, which is critical,” Gruden said this week, via Lou DiPietro of Audacy.
“You have to win these close games when your defense is playing pretty good and the other team’s been struggling, and that’s what happened, and turnovers will kill you,” Gruden said. “As long as he’s protecting the ball, I know everybody wants to see touchdowns in the red zone, they’ll come, but just make sure we at least get points to keep the game close and try to win at the end like they did.”
Daniels completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards and rushed for 44 yards. Gruden wasn’t concerned that the Commanders didn’t score touchdowns as he believes the touchdowns will come with time. Most importantly, Daniels took care of the ball and improved from Week 1 to Week 2.
“You could see one of the times it was a true handoff and Jayden just took two steps after he handed off, and there’s two guys trying to make sure he didn’t have the ball — and then there goes the inside zone popping out of there,” Gruden continued. “That is a hell of a weapon to have. Jayden Daniels and the threat of his zone read or carrying the ball getting outside the numbers is scary on defenses, and you have to have people account for him, and that’ll open up things for (Austin) Ekeler and (Brian) Robinson like it did.”
Gruden said the Commanders will need to make some big plays in the passing game as opposing teams are going to force Washington to beat them through the air.
Daniels and the Commanders have a tough assignment in Week 3: A trip to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Monday Night Football.