Daily Slop – 23 Jan 25: Jayden Daniels is building a legacy and Terry embraces being ‘Scary’

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ESPN

Best rookie NFL seasons ever: Why Jayden Daniels has a case

Outside of Terry McLaurin, the Commanders weren’t expected to have even above-average players surrounding Daniels on offense. The moves Peters had made to solidify the team were relatively modest, adding veterans such as Tyler Biadasz and Nick Allegretti along the offensive line, Olamide Zaccheaus and Zach Ertz as pass catchers and Austin Ekeler to an already-crowded backfield. Before the season, there was more chatter about draftees such as Luke McCaffrey and Ben Sinnott becoming part of the next great Washington offense in the years to come than there was about the stopgap veterans in the starting lineup. When Peters traded 2022 first-round pick Jahan Dotson to the Eagles just before the season, it felt like the Commanders didn’t care about having as many playmakers around Daniels as possible.

Well, it turns out that Daniels has made all of those players better. Along with a resurgent season from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Daniels has formed connections with multiple receivers. Zaccheaus had a pair of 85-yard games. Ertz caught 66 passes and has been a valuable third- and fourth-down threat. Noah Brown, signed off waivers before the season to replace Dotson, ran as the No. 2 wideout before suffering a kidney injury. Dyami Brown caught 11 passes for 187 yards in Washington’s two postseason wins.

Of course, it’s not just what Daniels has done but how he has done it. He has turned the end of Commanders games into appointment television. In Week 3, he hit my pick for best pass of the season to McLaurin to seal a win over the Bengals. His Hail Mary gave the Commanders a victory over the Bears in Week 8. He led a dramatic comeback at home against the Cowboys in Week 12 before being let down by his special teams, then pulled off another last-minute win with a late drive to beat the Eagles in Week 16.

He followed a walk-off drive in overtime to beat the Falcons in Week 17 with a four-minute drive that ate up clock and set up the Commanders for a winning field goal in the wild-card win over the Buccaneers. Oh, and while it didn’t include a dramatic ending, Daniels just played a nearly perfect game in scoring 38 points and knocking the top-seeded Lions out of the playoffs.

Other excellent rookies have their own stories. Washington was in a similarly dreary case when Griffin showed up. Sanders singlehandedly made Lions games watchable overnight. Lott was part of a historic improvement for the 49ers on defense. The Texans were floundering before Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. arrived last season. But I’m not sure anybody has turned around a franchise and their hopes as a rookie quite as significantly and quickly as Daniels has.

What does all of that mean in terms of where his rookie season sits among the best ever?

It depends. There’s still at least one more game to go for Daniels, and a dramatic victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia would only add to his résumé. As good as Daniels has been, there’s a huge gap between a universe in which he gets blown out by the Eagles in the and one in which he outduels Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen in a classic Super Bowl LIX victory.

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ESPN

How Jayden Daniels convinced the Commanders he’d be a star

DANIELS ARRIVES AT the Commanders’ facility between 5 and 5:30 a.m. every Wednesday through Friday during the season to begin working on the game plan for the upcoming opponent.

Daniels spends around 30 minutes watching film, sometimes alone in the quarterbacks meeting room and other times on his iPad while soaking in the hot tub. Then, around 6 a.m., Daniels, Kingsbury and quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard head over to the practice bubble to walk through the approximately 60 to 70 plays on the game plan list for that week.

To simulate game situations, Kingsbury calls in the plays with his phone, then runs routes. Daniels, wearing a helmet, gets the playcall through his AirPods before receiving the snap from Pritchard. Before the snap, Kingsbury tells Daniels what coverage he should expect and reminds him about his drops and reads. The goal, they say, is to paint a mental picture so Daniels can visualize what it would look like in a game.

Kingsbury is often the primary receiver. Sometimes he’ll say he’s covered so Daniels has to find his next read. The three men go over various in-game scenarios: 30 seconds left, need a touchdown, red zone work. They’ll call out one-word plays that have multiple options and a specific snap count — a two-word play, Taylor Swift, resulted in a touchdown pass to rookie Ben Sinnott earlier this year.

Kingsbury and Pritchard said Daniels rarely needs a reminder of his responsibility on a given play.

“He’s had this material for less than 12 hours,” Pritchard said. “He’s really in tune with where we are already.”

Daniels receives the game plan from the staff around 6 p.m. Tuesday, studies it for 90 minutes and often draws out the plays in a notebook.

“When I can get here in the morning, I’m able to go in there and kind of just walk through it and I’ll visualize it, walk through this or the reads, footwork,” he said, “and if I have any questions? Kliff and [Pritchard] are answering them right then and there.”

Daniels’ meticulous game prep doesn’t end in the bubble. He texts Kingsbury about plays he’s seen in other games or watched on YouTube. Kingsbury likes that the plays he sends match Washington’s concepts.

On the morning of the season opener at Tampa Bay, Daniels asked Kingsbury for one more walk-through before heading to the stadium. So Kingsbury, Pritchard, assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough and quarterbacks Mariota and Jeff Driskel headed to a ballroom for one final round of mental reps. This scene has repeated itself every game-day morning since — a routine Kingsbury said he’s never seen before but helps explain what he’s seen from Daniels’ way of processing all along.

“His football knowledge is beyond what I think any rookie quarterback anybody could ever possibly expect it to be,” Kingsbury said. “He’ll bring up things and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t even think about that, but it’s a valid point.’ He’ll make corrections on plays that I’ve designed, I’ll f— him up and he’ll be like, ‘No, no coach, you were on this side when we were doing our walk-through.’ ‘Really? Yeah. OK. You’re right.’”

And a key part of that knowledge is homed in the bubble, ending around two and a half hours before the first team meeting of the day.

“All I know,” one assistant coach said, “is that when I get here they’re coming out of the bubble.”

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The Guardian

Will Jayden Daniels and the Commanders continue their fairytale playoff run?

The Commanders know that they will have to lead with Daniels once again if they want to advance to the Super Bowl. The good news is that in his rookie season, Daniels has given no indication that it’s too much for him. Quite the opposite. The Lions brought all kinds of nasty defensive stuff at him, and he didn’t blink. Beyond his physical and mental attributes, Daniels has a preternatural calm in the most pivotal moments of a drive, a game, and a season that makes you wonder if he’s somehow been in the NFL for 10 years.

The Commanders have been the NFL’s best team when converting third and fourth downs this season, and any coach will tell you that when your opponent is unruffled by the specter of the ending of a drive, it makes for an entirely different offense. All of a sudden, the plays that “normal” teams throw out on certain downs are still in play. And Daniels has been at the epicenter of that all along.

Those things will undoubtedly stand out to the Eagles, and they’re more than aware. Fangio may be the NFL’s best defensive coordinator, and Philadelphia have the players from front to back to deal with anything Daniels throws at them – literally and figuratively. But when it comes to Daniels, there is always that eerie calm that allows his coaches and teammates to be bold – it’s a word they’ve used all season long.

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The Athletic (paywall)

NFL playoffs: Key Commanders-Eagles matchups to watch in NFC Championship Game

Kingsbury has cranked up the dial on QB runs in two playoff games with Daniels carrying the ball on designed rushes on 15.6 percent of plays. The Eagles have one of the best rushing defenses in the league, but they rank 18th in defensive success rate against shotgun runs in which the quarterback carries the ball (not including scrambles) in the regular season. With weather expected to affect the game, Daniels should carry the ball much more than he did against the Eagles in the regular season.

Kingsbury found an edge in Week 16 by lining up in empty formations. In Week 11, he only used empty on eight snaps. In Week 16, the Commanders lined up in empty on 14 plays. Daniels was 7 for 12 for 122 yards and three touchdowns on those. He also rushed for 42 yards (one designed rush and one scramble) and was sacked only once. He also threw two interceptions out of empty. One interception looked like a result of not being on the same page as his receiver and the other one he just forced under pressure. The Commanders averaged 0.86 expected points added (EPA) per play out of empty.

With how aggressive Commanders head coach Dan Quinn has been on fourth down, Fangio has to treat third down like second down. He has to be careful lining up in rush fronts like this that are susceptible to the run because when the Commanders get close to the first-down marker, they’ll go for it on fourth down.

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Commanders.com

Commanders vs. Eagles preview | An NFC East battle for the conference crown

QUICK HITS

• The Commanders will travel to Philadelphia for the second time this season to take on the Eagles in the NFC Championship. The two teams split their regular season matchups.
• In the playoffs all-time Washington is:
• 25-20 in playoff games.
• 10-13 all-time in road playoff matchups.
• 5-1 all-time in conference championships.
• 3-2 all-time against NFC East opponents.
• 1-0 all-time against Philadelphia in the playoffs with their last matchup coming in the 1990 Wild Card round.
• Washington’s 45-31 win over the Lions was their first win in the Divisional round since the 1991 season.
• Washington’s 45 points against the Lions are the second-most all-time in franchise history in a single postseason game.
• Washington has won two road playoff games in a single postseason for the first time in franchise history.

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NFL.com

QB Index: Six free agent quarterbacks teams can’t let hit the open market this offseason

Marcus Mariota – Washington Commanders

Jayden Daniels is unquestionably the future in Washington, but as has often been said, the second most important player on an NFL team is the backup quarterback. Mariota proved this when the Commanders lost Daniels in their Week 7 win over Carolina, a romp in which Mariota tossed two touchdown passes after Daniels exited. He showed it again in the regular-season finale, leading a frantic final drive that ended in a last-second, game-winning touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin. Those moments are what keep teams afloat, especially clubs that rely heavily on their quarterback. Washington is enjoying the earliest stages of its turnaround right now, but consistency at the position is key to building on that success. The Commanders can stay competitive with a backup like Mariota available to replace Daniels if needed. Just ask Miami how things have gone without Tua Tagovailoa in recent years.

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Washington Post (paywall)

This is the year Terry McLaurin became ‘scary’

The Commanders wideout never had a signature celebration. This season, during which he has caught 15 touchdown passes, has inspired him to develop a few.

McLaurin’s rare moments of joy on the field looked like all of his pent-up frustration exploding in singular, uncontrollable spasms, such as when he pounded his chest after sealing an upset over Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay in 2021, or when he screamed and flexed on the sideline after catching a touchdown pass for the first time in six weeks in 2022.

Days after Halloween, “Scary Terry,” as he’s affectionately called, caught two touchdown passes against the New York Giants, which turned out to be a fortunate coincidence.

The man with no celebrations suddenly had two.

[A]round Halloween he settled on a celebration but didn’t tell anyone. Not long after, fourth-string quarterback Sam Hartman jokingly suggested another — “Scary Terry” should scare people by playing peekaboo, as a parent would with a small child.

McLaurin had never loved the nickname “Scary Terry” because, by the time he got to the NFL, NBA player Terry Rozier had been using it for a few years. McLaurin preferred “F1,” which referenced his speed and automaker McLaren, or to not have a nickname at all. But “Scary Terry” stuck, and when he caught two touchdown passes against the Giants, both of his celebrations descended from it.

After the first, McLaurin tried his own idea, which was pretending to pull a mask down over his head. “I’m a normal guy, but when I get out on the field, it’s like, put the mask on and boo!” he explained. “Like, that part is scary.”

After the second, he used Hartman’s, shielding his face with his hands and opening his palms outward: Boo!

Over the next 11 weeks, McLaurin went on a spree — one celebration against Dallas, two against Tennessee and two more against New Orleans. He set the franchise record for receiving touchdowns in a season with 13, but he still wasn’t satisfied.

“I’ve asked my teammates, like, ‘You think the fans would be able to, when I go like this” — he demonstrates the peekaboo — “everybody go boo?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, but it may sound like everybody’s booing you.’ So we’re still working that part out.”

As a reporter ended the interview for this story, McLaurin asked for advice: “You got any ideas of how to get the fans involved? I think that’d be dope.”

The reporter said booing wouldn’t be a bad thing if it were an inside joke. He suggested McLaurin explain his vision in a social media video.

“If we could get everybody involved and just go, ‘Boo!’ I think that could go hard,” McLaurin said.

The mask and the peekaboo have become small markers of organizational transformation. Good things now happen so often that players can plan different ways to express joy.

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Washington Post (paywall)

A rookie QB in a conference title game? Here’s how the first five fared.

Jayden Daniels will be the sixth to start a game with a Super Bowl berth on the line. Spoiler: None of the others won at this stage.

Jayden Daniels assured himself a spot in rookie quarterback history with the Washington Commanders’ victory over the Detroit Lions, but a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s NFC championship game would make him one of a kind.

No matter the result, he will join rare company: Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only five rookie quarterbacks have started a conference championship game. And Daniels — “a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape,” as Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio put it — has the chance to gain separation because the others were winless in their appearances.

“I’m not even thinking that far,” Daniels said Wednesday about the possibility of being the first rookie QB to start a Super Bowl. “It’d be a blessing if it happened, but I’m just trying to focus on how I can get better day by day.”

Here’s a look at the five QBs who made it to this point and how they performed in the big games:

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Upcoming opponent

Bleeding Green Nation

Eagles Injury Report: Jalen Hurts and Quinyon Mitchell limited, Dallas Goedert and Cam Jurgens DNP

Note that this report is an estimation because the team held a walkthrough in lieu of a normal practice.

The Eagles listed two players under DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Dallas Goedert and Cam Jurgens.

These players weren’t expected to be on the injury report.

Goedert played in 60 out of 63 possible snaps against the Los Angeles Rams. Perhaps he tweaked something and the Eagles are trying to manage him to get to Sunday? It’s worth noting that the Eagles signed a tight end to the practice squad earlier on Wednesday.

Jurgens played in 63 out of 63 possible snaps against the Rams. Perhaps he tweaked something and the Eagles are trying to manage him to get to Sunday? It’s worth noting that the Eagles signed veteran offensive lineman Cameron Erving, who has center experience, to the practice squad earlier on Wednesday.

It’ll be worth monitoring how these guys progress (or not) over the next two days.

The Eagles listed six players under LIMITED PARTICIPATION: Jalen Hurts, Quinyon Mitchell, A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson, Josh Sweat, and Britain Covey.

As expected, Hurts told reporters he’s going to play. The question isn’t if he’s going to suit up on Sunday. The question is how limited Hurts will be, if at all.

Mitchell told reporters he’s going to play against the Commanders.

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Podcasts & videos

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Commanders vs Eagles NFC Championship Preview | Gruden & McCoy

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Washington Commanders vs. Philadelphia Eagles | 2024 NFC Championship Game Preview

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The NFC Championship matchup

The Athletic (paywall)

An inside look at what’s really going on with Eagles-Commanders rematch in NFC title game

Kubena: One of the reasons the Eagles escaped an upset by the Rams was because they forced field goals on three of the five times Los Angeles reached their red zone. The Commanders scored touchdowns in the red zone at the NFL’s sixth-highest rate (63.4 percent) and were 3-of-4 against the Eagles in such situations last time. Do you still like Washington’s matchup there? Why have they been so good in that zone, and is there anything the Eagles can take away?

Standig: Have I mentioned the quarterback’s poise? Daniels’ dual-threat prowess also puts defenses in conflict. It’s one thing to have a delayed reaction if he breaks outside on a read-option at midfield. Do that inside the 10, and Daniels will turn the corner before being touched. Focus on the ground game and he’ll beat you with precision passing. Daniels has 19 touchdown passes and one interception on 66 red zone attempts.

This area of the field is where tight end Zach Ertz shines. The 34-year-old won’t evade defenders with his quicks but repeatedly beats coverage off the first move and wins in traffic. The 6-foot-5 target’s 62.5 contested catch rate ranked fifth among tight ends. Not surprisingly, all eight of his touchdowns were in the red zone, including a 5-yarder versus the Lions. The inside route is an Ertz staple this season.

Standig: Philly won the A.J. Brown-Marshon Lattimore matchup in Week 16 (though Lattimore had some positive moments early and then left late with a hamstring injury). That was also only Lattimore’s second game with the Commanders after they acquired him in a trade with the New Orleans Saints. They’ve since deployed him a few different ways, with varying success. He traveled the field while shadowing Mike Evans, who had seven catches, 92 yards and a touchdown for the Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card game. Lattimore was more effective playing on one side against the Lions in the divisional round. Part of me feels like the winner of the Brown-Lattimore matchup wins this game. What do you think the Eagles approach is for the rematch?

Kubena: I’m instantly inclined to feel resistance to this premise. Brown had one catch for 10 yards in the NFC wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers. And he had two catches for 14 yards in the divisional round against the Rams. Yet, the Eagles won both. It’s an absurdity that can only be explained by Barkley’s breakaway runs and a dominant defense that’s forced five turnovers in the playoffs. But then I’m reminded that it is indeed an absurdity, and, therefore, can’t truly be relied upon if Brown again has nominal production this weekend. (Or can it?)

Regardless, the Eagles were trying to get the ball to Brown against the Rams. Hurts targeted his top receiver seven times. Brown dropped two of them, including what would’ve been a huge gain near the front pylon. Brown said, “You’ve got to give this game a pass” due to its snowy conditions. But he’s also been managing a knee issue since popping up on the injury report on Dec. 19. He caught 8 of 15 targets for 97 yards and a touchdown against the Commanders three days later, but he’s totaled six catches for 60 yards in the three games since. He’s sat out a handful of practices throughout the playoffs within a load-management program with the team’s training staff. Brown has said he’s been playing through the injury. I’m wondering how much of his minimal production is due to him not being 100 percent.

Washington isn’t an explosive offense but a highly efficient unit. In the regular season, it ranked:

• Second in drive score percentage (50.0)
• Tied for second in first downs per drive (2.2)
• Fourth in points per drive (2.72)
• Fourth in “successful play” percentage (50.9)
• Fifth in touchdowns per drive
• Sixth in time of possession per drive (2:59)
• Sixth in third down percentage (45.6)

The Commanders were also best in fourth-down conversion percentage (87.0, 20-of-23), highlighting Quinn’s aggressive streak. And yet, Washington was 18th in explosive play percentage (10.8). The Commanders didn’t wow opponents play to play but wore them down.

They have punted once and have yet to commit a turnover in two playoff games.

Here’s the thing: Washington is a time-of-possession boss as well. Including the playoffs, it is 11-0 when winning the time-of-possession battle — neither Eagles game made the list. The Commanders own two of the top six time-of-possession games in regulation this season and three of nine, including overtime. They also have a knack for stifling the opponent’s momentum with long drives after a touchdown.

Standig: Quinyon Mitchell quieted McLaurin in the first meeting (one catch, 10 yards). McLaurin was better in the rematch (five catches, 60 yards, a touchdown) but it still wasn’t a crazy stat line. What’s the deal with the rookie corner’s shoulder injury and how can he put the clamps on a wide receiver with nine touchdowns in the last eight games?

Kubena: Mitchell told Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Olivia Reiner in the locker room after Sunday’s game that he’s “going to be good.” Nick Sirianni isn’t one to offer such public definitives on injuries. But the expectation is that Mitchell will play. He made a strong case for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Only Denzel Ward forced more incompletions than Mitchell this season, according to Pro Football Focus. There are myriad reasons beyond that specific cornerback position for why Philadelphia’s defensive success rate is higher when Mitchell isn’t on the field (67.3) than when he is (60.3), per TruMedia, but it’s partly because it has a solid backup in Isaiah Rodgers.

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NFL league links

Articles

Front Office Sports

Trent Baalke Out As Jaguars GM After Scaring Off Head Coach Candidates

Unable to get a head coach to work with him, owner Shad Khan ousted Baalke on Wednesday.

A third straight prospective Jaguars head coach pulled out of consideration rather than work with Baalke, and Jacksonville owner Shad Khan belatedly pulled the plug on the GM Wednesday afternoon.

That was it for Baalke. “Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,” Khan said in a statement.

Pleasing owners has been a specialty of Baalke’s. Despite a mostly rocky four years and a 25–43 record, Khan said after firing Doug Pederson that it would be “suicidal” to throw Baalke overboard, and the owner was reportedly “stunned” when Coen pulled out.

With Coen and both Lions coordinators off the board, Khan will belatedly have to attract candidates like former Jets coach Robert Saleh. (He’ll also have to find a new GM.)

Baalke has been here before. He won a power struggle against Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers, ousting the coach after four successful years. Harbaugh guided the Chargers back to the playoffs this year in his return to the NFL after spending a decade in college.

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Washington Post (paywall)

NFL officiating under scrutiny after flags for Texans hits on Patrick Mahomes

League could further tweak its replay-assist system in the offseason to deal with plays like Saturday’s penalized hits on the Chiefs quarterback.

The league could make additional adjustments to its instant replay system during the offseason to help deal with situations such as those that arose last weekend in the divisional round.

The conspiracy theories about the Chiefs, plus the pushback by some football traditionalists to the enforcement of safety rules designed to protect quarterbacks, converged last weekend to produce controversy over a pair of personal fouls called on the Houston Texans for hits on Mahomes during their loss Saturday. Meanwhile, officials didn’t penalize an illegal hit by the Washington Commanders on Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff during an interception return for a touchdown Saturday night and a questionable hit out of bounds along the sideline Sunday by the Bills on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The inconsistency further fueled the talk that Mahomes and the Chiefs get more than their fair share of calls. But while the two penalties called on the Texans for their hits on Mahomes were debatable, they were not clearly wrong under NFL rules that prohibit hits to the head or neck area of a quarterback in the process of throwing a pass in the pocket or sliding at the end of a run. And they were in line with the league’s policy of safeguarding quarterbacks, who are often its biggest stars.

Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said at last month’s NFL owners meeting in Irving, Texas, that several other calls — face-mask infractions, illegal hits on players deemed to be in defenseless positions, taunting, tripping, fair catches, illegal batting of the ball, illegal double-team blocks and illegal formations on kickoffs — could be added to the list of situations in which replay can be used to quickly assist the on-field officials.

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