It’s only natural for a rookie quarterback to step on the gas in his first NFL outing, especially when he’s on the road against a Todd Bowles defense. The Commanders’ first-round pick certainly didn’t have the worst Sunday among his draft picks. Daniels used his dynamic running ability to get out of tight spaces, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards and two sacks.
Daniels’ 88 rushing yards were the most ever by a rookie QB in a Week 1 debut. His 16 carries were the most in Commanders franchise history by a signal-caller. Daniels joined Robert Griffin III (2012) as the only Washington rookie QBs to start for the franchise in Week 1 since the AFL-NFL merger. Both had 40+ rush yards in their road debuts against NFC South opponents.
Daniels’ legs helped keep the offense alive, but they can’t be the only productive part of Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. The Commanders’ best receivers were running backs Austin Ekeler (four catches, 52 yards) and Brian Robinson (3/49). The wideouts combined for 55 yards, with No. 1 Terry McLaurin making two catches for 17 yards.
Quinn was asked if Daniels’ 16 rushes were more than he would like to see.
“Certainly not all of those are planned quarterback runs,” the coach said. “I think that’s important to say, but I think he’d be the first to say the same thing. To say, ‘I had a chance to pass it to somebody else.’ Sometimes you see a rush or a pattern break and there’s open space and you go. For him, it’s, make it when it’s there, when you get out of the pocket. We’d like to see him stay a passer first and foremost, and I think that will come with more experience, honestly. If I can extend the ball to throw it when I say, ‘Hey, the game’s over, I’m going to get rid of it and move on to the next play.’ So I think you’ll see that evolution continue as we go along. Certainly 18 runs is not the model we’re looking for, certainly with Brian and Austin and others here. But in the end, I think we’ll continue to grow at this point. But certainly not planned to have that many.”
Daniels’ ability to go through a progression and give routes more chances will be part of his development. It will come with reps. In the meantime, the Heisman Trophy winner will continue to use his legs as an advantage against the pass rush. The bigger concern for Quinn should be the hard hits the QB takes. Daniels needs to protect himself when he runs, which includes working on his slide technique to avoid devastating hits.
