Save Jayden Daniels.
That is all that the Washington Commanders season should be about.
You can develop young players, master new systems and win when you can. That will help for years. But not if JD5 becomes RGIV.
From the top down, but especially with new offensive coordinator David Blough and Daniels himself, the imperative must be to maximize the chance that Daniels will still be the team’s QB1 — and a better, more developed quarterback — in ’30. And ’35, when he’ll still only be 34.
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Deferred gratification tastes bitter. This season is spinach so that the next 10 years can be, mostly, cake and ice cream.
Washington hasn’t had a quarterback with “franchise” level talent in over 50 years. Despite a step backward in every metric in ’25, Daniels still has it — if he survives to develop it fully.
Even when things look bleak, you may get a lucky break in the midst of the mess. That good fortune for Washington is the arrival of Blough.
His system, largely learned from Ben Johnson in Detroit and Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota, uses every NFL theory that preserves the health and maximizes the weapons of a star quarterback over a long career.
By no coincidence whatsoever, Blough replaces his style-box antithesis, sugar-high coordinator Kliff Kingsbury — thanks for ’24, Kliff! — and his college-style spread offense. Unfortunately, the Kingsbury shotgun often seemed aimed at the slender Daniels’ head.
In ’24, Daniels escaped, brilliantly, despite three games in which he carried the ball 16 times. In ’25, Daniels led NFL QBs in carries per game (8.3). But there were only seven such games because he was hurt four times.
His knee was sprained while scrambling between the tackles in a blowout loss to Green Bay. His left elbow was gruesomely dislocated, bent completely the wrong way like a hinged toy, when he was asked to run near the goal line with the team down 38-7. Narrow the score so the coaches don’t look so bad? Two weeks later — sickeningly — he was back. And blasted again.
Suddenly, everybody got it: Save Jayden Daniels.
Now, we’ll find out: Can they?
Before their opener Sunday against the Eagles in Philly, the Commanders have headaches. The defense, which couldn’t stop anybody last season (last in yards allowed), is dealing with injury issues.
The offense, which added free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs to complement Terry McLaurin, now has an offensive line in total flux. “Flux” being the technical term for OMG!
The great left tackle Laremy Tunsil, Daniels’ blind side protector, will miss most, if not all of the season with a torn triceps. After the team released solid center Tyler Biadasz in February, presumably to save salary cap space, it is now almost naked at the position. Will ex-guard Nick Allegretti, out for weeks this summer with a calf injury, be ready for Philly? Maybe. Otherwise, a sixth-round rookie will start at center. Light a candle.
The starting O-line on the depth chart has had z-e-r-o reps together — ever.
Fortunately, time passes. Injuries heal. On a team that won only five games last year and is predicted to win seven in ’26, the proper view is the long view. That’s why I can’t wait to see if Daniels adapts, grows and, in time, flourishes in a Blough system that looks heaven-sent for him.
It’ll take time. But, with Daniels in the Blough system, what should we look for?
In recent years, the NFL has trended toward running more plays with the quarterback under center. The leaders last year were the Rams (60% ), the champion Seahawks (55), Bills (51), Lions (49) and Bears (49). Lots of success there.
In ’25, Daniels ran only 5.8% of plays under center. Look for an eight-times increase?
Why go under center? Because, since the T-formation was born, the run game works better that way; it’s more deceptive and versatile. On the handoff, or fake, the QB’s back is to the defense, his body deliberately blocking their view of the ball. (Daniels’ crafty temperament should love the upgrade from the pro-forma fakes in the gun to the hard fakes of a dedicated ball-handling magician under center.)
For a split second, nobody knows who has it. Linebackers hesitate. Defensive backs have a harder read, too, and are more vulnerable to deep play-action passes. Blocking angles and ability to run “outside zone” plays are better. (You don’t need to take it from me, a mediocre ex-high school QB during the Mesozoic era; there are whole books on this.)
Star coaches Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Johnson all preach this sermon as the NFL becomes a more run-centric league. In ’25, 17 players rushed for 1,000 yards. In ’15, it was seven.
The better you run the ball, the more you neutralize the defense’s pass rush. Play action also opens up rollouts, which get a mobile passer like Daniels away from traffic, and violence. If he’s willing to focus downfield on the throw, rather than the brave gain-a-few run which too often tempts him, it’s win-win.
Blough also prefers to huddle up, not play fast-break style. Kingsbury’s idea was to play so fast that defenses couldn’t change personnel packages, or call complex pressures as much as they liked. This made the QB’s job of defense recognition easier. But the spread is also a more predictable offense with fewer ways to do what Blough loves: “Spread the field horizontally and vertically.” (Oh, no, more X-and-O books.)
However, when you huddle, the defense can organize itself to call any complex lying, shifting picture that it wants before the snap; so, as Daniels turns his back to handoff, fake or drop back, by the time he turns around he may see a horrifyingly different defensive look.
Being under center helps you deceive them. But it can help them deceive you, too.
From new footwork to reading through a “pure progression” passing game like Blough’s, where you sift through your receivers in a predetermined order, Daniels has work to do. That’s understandable; even though everyone who’s coached Daniels raves about his high football IQ, it’s tough to ask a rookie to have a PhD in reading NFL defenses. But this is Daniels’ third year. He should be on schedule, maybe not early in ’26, but over time — or whenever he finally has a functional O-line — to prove that he’s a studious, observant quarterback who wins the brain game. Under Blough, Daniels will also have more control at the line to get out of “bad plays” before the snap and get swamped-and-stomped less often.
That doesn’t mean the Commanders will completely discard favorite Daniels plays from the past. You haven’t seen the last read option. But, as Daniels told The Athletic last week, “Let’s [just] say there will be less designed quarterback runs.” (If there aren’t, after ’25, someone should be fired.)
But the final, and biggest piece of the “Save Jayden Daniels” puzzle is Daniels himself. He has shown little inclination to stay behind the line, looking to pass, once he has scrambled successfully and established a “second pocket.” He ran more and passed less (39%) than any QB in scramble situations last year. Only two others were barely under 50%. Most learn, “Look long, look medium, throw it away.”
From a child, Daniels has made Superman Plays. They draw awe, not just success. Is that showmanship, leadership and pride so deep in his personality that he can’t or won’t change it?
Daniels needs models. Whether it’s Patrick Mahomes, or prime Aaron Rodgers, or long-ago Roger Staubach, there have been Hall of Fame quarterbacks who scrambled all over the field. But most were waiting for a big play to open up down the field, not for a chance to gain 10 yards and get blown up. Roger The Dodger averaged 3.1 runs per game. From age 26 to 33, Rodgers averaged 3.6 runs. For Mahomes, 3.9 a game.
If it’s enough for them, it ought to be for Daniels. You don’t run when a first down is on the line. You run when the game is on the line.
The NFL is human demolition derby. Switching to a less self-destructive offense improves your odds. Nothing makes you safe. Until the line is functional, which may not be until Tunsil is back, Daniels will be tempted to “save the day.” So, go on and worry.
As always, at least for the last 57 years since Vince Lombardi came to D.C. to coach, fans of the Commanders are insanely optimistic. If the experts say “seven wins,” then they start counting at 10. You can’t tell ’em anything, bless their hearts. Often, they even refuse to believe a whole season’s worth of final scores.
Everybody, including Daniels, needs a serving of reality and deferred gratification. No one will remember whether Washington won the Super Bowl this year, because they won’t.
But we’ll remember whether Jayden Daniels survived and if he improved. That “scoreboard” will impact the next decade.
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