Jayden Daniels Fantasy Football Outlook: Dual-Threat QB Taking Another Step Up
Ian Hartitz features Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, as he looks to follow up his stellar rookie season with an even bigger year.
Ian Hartitz features Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
It's safe to say Commanders QB Jayden Daniels had himself a pretty, pretty, pretty good rookie season. In fact, he's now one of just four first-year signal-callers to score at least 20 fantasy points per game in NFL history (min. 8 starts):
- Cam Newton (23.1)
- Justin Herbert (22.2)
- Robert Griffin (21.2)
- Jayden Daniels (20.9)
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Jayden Daniels Can Be QB1
Daniels achieved all this production thanks to his excellence on both the ground and through the air, becoming just the ninth QB to lead their team in both passing and rushing yards since 2000. Sixth in EPA per dropback and one of just two QBs to average at least 50 rush yards per game alongside Lamar freaking Jackson, the 2024 NFL Draft's No. 2 overall pick more than exceeded already sky-high expectations.
And now for the whatever-your-fantasy-league's-first-place-prize-is dollar question: Can Daniels repeat, or even exceed, his rookie-year success?
There's certainly reason for optimism, particularly considering Daniels wasn't exactly dealt the world's best hand in 2024:
- Offensive line: This group certainly wasn't bad; PFF ranked them as the league's 10th-best unit in 2024. Then again, Washington still finished just 16th in pressure rate allowed and received PFF's fifth-lowest grade when it came to run blocking.
- Pass-game weapons: Obviously Terry McLaurin is a baller, shot caller, but after that? C'mon. Daniels made lemonade with guys like Olamide Zaccheaus, Dyami Brown, and Noah Brown. Old man Zach Ertz led the team in targets during the NFC Championship for crying out loud.
- Coaching staff: All key parties in head coach Dan Quinn, OC Kliff Kingsbury, and passing game coordinator Brian Johnson are back, giving Daniels the sort of continuity that is rare to find from any team fresh off a deep playoff run.
Add it all together, and the Commanders ranked "just" 17th in “Supporting Cast Rating,” which is derived by taking the average of every team's PFF rushing, receiving, run-blocking, and pass-blocking grades (everything except passing). While simply adding Laremy Tunsil, Deebo Samuel and some rookies to the equation won't necessarily take this group from meh to elite, it's safe to say the team's 2025 offensive environment has a solid chance of being improved.
So where does this leave Daniels in fantasy land? Well, truthers can paint a reasonable picture as potentially THE QB1, while even his doubters likely won't need more than one hand to count the number of QBs they would rather roster ahead of next season.
Ultimately, the list of players to ever pass for 3,500 yards and rush for 500 yards in a single season is littered with fantasy phenoms: Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Deshaun Watson, Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham … and Jayden Daniels. Dual-threat QBs join pass-catching RBs as the closest thing that fantasy football had to legit cheat codes; don't be surprised if 2024 was just the beginning of Daniels' excellence in both real life and fantasy.
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