Jayden Daniels wanted to get a jump on learning the Washington Commanders’ playbook and getting more comfortable as a pro, so the quarterback and No. 2 overall NFL draft pick arrived before most other players during minicamp this week.
“I get here at like 5:45 (a.m.) and just walk through the bubble indoor, watching film and getting ready for the routine of the day,” Daniels said after a practice in Ashburn this week. “I’m still learning the playbook and trying to grasp everything. Just being comfortable for the day and being ready to go out there and go out and compete at practice.”
Added Daniels: “I still got a long way to go to be where I want to be.”
LIVE: QB Jayden Daniels speaks to the media after Day 2 of minicamp https://t.co/ycuVkaLycx
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) June 12, 2024
The Commanders ended their three-day minicamp Thursday, and the reviews were positive for Daniels, a star at LSU who is part of a revamped franchise that includes new head coach Dan Quinn, new general manager Adam Peters and a host of free-agent signees.
On Friday, Daniels signed his rookie contract with the Commanders — worth $37.75 million for four years with a $24.3 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option for the 2028 season.
Daniels “came in really prepared,” said Terry McLaurin, a veteran wide receiver and one of the team’s few holdovers from last season. “I feel like when he was getting (starting) reps or whether he’s working with the (second team), he does a good job of getting the most out of the reps that he needs to accomplish.”
Quinn has not declared Daniels the starter, and both Daniels and Marcus Mariota — one of the team’s recent acquisitions — took first-team reps during minicamp. Mariota, 30, and also a former No. 2 overall draft pick of the Tennessee Titans, played in three games for Philadelphia last season and started 13 games for Atlanta in 2022.
Daniels, though, won the Heisman Trophy last season at LSU and finished his college career as the only player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to pass for 12,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards. In 55 games (29 for Arizona State and 26 for LSU), Daniels threw for 12,749 yards and rushed for 3,307.
Daniels is expected to become Washington’s eighth different Week 1 quarterback in as many seasons, but he admitted this week he wasn’t quite ready for stardom.
“I ain’t a star quarterback yet,” Daniels said Wednesday. “I got a long way to go. I’m a rookie.”
Daniels took some ribbing from his teammates for an errant first pitch at a recent Washington Nationals game, but otherwise his first taste of the NFL with Washington has been positive.
“There’s no doubt that Jayden’s making unbelievable progress here, and we’ll have a really fun camp, but he’s earned that opportunity to go compete,” Quinn said. “We wouldn’t have given him those spaces and those times and those reps if he hadn’t. But it was really clear that he’s put in the work and he was ready to do that. So, it was by intention for sure that he was able to do that.”
Added Quinn: “He’s got a swagger to him. He really has a very firm handle on the things that we’re doing, but he also has the humility of a young player.”
Minicamp ended Thursday, so players have about six weeks off before training camp begins. Daniels planned to head to California, but he was planning to be in “football mode.”
“Go back to California, go train with my quarterbacks coach down in Huntington Beach and get ready for the season,” Daniels said. “Put myself in the best position to come out here and compete with the guys.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
