Jayden Daniels no longer looked like the quarterback who electrified college football and won a Heisman Trophy last season. For such an exciting player, what we saw in his NFL debut was boring.
The Washington Commanders barely got going on offense, but that was partly due to an overly conservative game plan. Daniels looked like a rookie in his first NFL game and the Commanders lost 37-20 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Daniels completed 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards and ran for 88 yards and two short touchdowns. It was a respectable debut, if unspectacular.
It’s not easy playing quarterback as a rookie in the NFL, no matter how easy CJ Stroud made it look last season. Caleb Williams didn’t even manage 100 passing yards in his debut in what seemed like a good matchup against the Tennessee Titans. Bo Nix struggled at times in his debut for the Denver Broncos in Seattle. Daniels wasn’t bad, but the player who made several big plays per game at LSU last season just couldn’t get going.
Daniel’s first pass wasn’t even officially a pass. He rushed and threw the ball wildly to the running back coming out of the backfield. It was a backwards pass and officially a lateral and a fumble. Washington intercepted the ball. His backwards pass on his first attempt set the tone for most of the Commanders’ passing strategy on Sunday.
The Commanders focused on a short passing game to get the ball out quickly when they started the game, likely due to a shaky offensive line. There was no real question about Daniels starting Week 1, but he’s not in a good situation because of the line. That’s something Washington hopes to accomplish. It also means the offense will be limited until they feel comfortable loosening things up a bit.
Daniels wasn’t bad. It wasn’t Daniels’ fault that kicker Cade York missed two field goals. That helped the Buccaneers take a 23-7 lead in the third quarter, putting the rookie QB in a tough spot. Daniels wasn’t playing badly, he just wasn’t making many plays other than his numerous scrambles. At that point, Daniels had completed only two passes for 8 yards. It’s hard to run an offense with no deep passes and rely on a quarterback to make most of the plays. It was also concerning to see Daniels take some hard hits, including two that ripped his helmet off his head.
Daniels finally got the Commanders into the end zone late in the third quarter, hitting Brian Robinson Jr. for a nice 32-yard run. On the next play, Daniels scored his first NFL touchdown on a 1-yard read option run.
The Buccaneers scored a touchdown right afterward, throwing the Commanders into a serious crisis again. Washington punted on the next drive and after that it was practically over.
Daniels scored a second touchdown on a run in garbage time.
Daniels has the potential to have a long, fantastic career. There’s a reason he was selected as the second overall pick in a strong QB class. But his first game wasn’t the dynamic start everyone was hoping for.
