On Feb. 6, the Washington Commanders Quarterback Jayden Daniels was named the 2024 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at NFL Honors in New Orleans. Daniels won 49 of the 50 first-place votes, and finished the night with 495 points from voters.
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers received 214 points, followed by Broncos quarterback Bo Nix with 153 points, Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. with 82 points and Giants wideout Malik Nabers with 51 points.
Daniels’ final season statistics were remarkable — he finished with a completion percentage of 3,568 passing yards, a 25-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 100.1 passer rating — and his award marked the end of his sensational rookie season where he gave many Commanders’ fans hope for the first time since 2012.
That year, the Commanders traded up in the draft to select Robert Griffin III, the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor, as the number 2 overall pick.
Griffin went on to have one of the greatest rookie seasons in NFL history, setting the quarterback rookie rushing record with 815 yards on his way to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY).
Griffin looked destined to be the next great quarterback in Washington following his rookie season before a brutal injury in the playoffs, where he tore both his ACL and LCL, derailed his career. Griffin never came close to the highs reached in his rookie campaign and is now seen as one of the biggest “what ifs” in franchise history.
Additionally, Griffin’s injury set the Commanders back several years, which is why fans feared history repeating itself with Daniels.
Fast-forward to April 2024, when the Washington Commanders were in the familiar position of holding the second overall pick. The team selected Louisiana State University (LSU) quarterback Jayden Daniels, the winner of the 2023 NCAA Heisman Trophy.
After the team’s former owner, Dan Snyder, sold the Commanders to Josh Harris in July of 2023, the team hired a new head coach, Dan Quinn, the former defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys and head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. With Quinn at the helm and a cast of veteran leadership, Commanders fans hoped to see flashes of a bright future.
However, the 2024-2025 season was beyond perhaps even the most diehard fan’s imagination. Through the first half of the 2024 NFL regular season, Jayden Daniels led the team to a 7-3 record, jumping out as the clear favorite for OROY.
Despite the hot start, many fans hesitated to buy into the excitement, as a repeat of history was far from out of the realm of possibilities.
However, Griffin spoke up on the matter on his podcast, where he said, “I don’t think [the fear of repeated history is] fair to Jayden [Daniels] and I don’t think it’s fair to the Commander’s organization.”
He noted that when he was a rookie, he was part of an unorganized organization that was too busy dealing with an internal power struggle to pay attention to developing their young QB. Griffin cited Daniels’ veteran supporting cast and new coaching as a reason why his career will be “different.”
On Jan. 12, Griffin wrote to his 2.2 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, that Jayden Daniels is “special.”
“He is what Washington has deserved for the longest time,” he added.
Fittingly, Daniels broke the Commander’s rookie quarterback rushing record this year with 891 yards, surpassing Griffin’s 815 yards in 2012. In Daniels’ debut campaign, he made six ground visits to the end zone.
Despite a 3-game losing streak in November, the Commanders finished the season 12-5, while their signal caller, Daniels, had significant contributions and broke Griffin’s rookie QB rushing record.
The Commanders’ 12-5 record was the best the franchise has seen in over 40 years, but this was just the beginning for Daniels and his team. In the postseason, where the lights were brightest, Daniels led the team to two playoff wins, being the first starting rookie quarterback to do so in NFL history.
Not only did the Commanders win these games, Daniels played out of his mind to the tune of over 500 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and zero turnovers. Many former NFL legends, including Tom Brady, sang Daniels’s praise throughout these performances.
Before the NFL Honors Ceremony, Brady pointed out Daniel’s “poise” during stressful and high-leverage situations as proof of his advanced understanding of the game.
According to Brady, Daniels is well beyond his years and, in his opinion, had one of the “greatest rookie seasons a quarterback has ever had.”
Despite a hard loss to the division rival Eagles in the Conference Championship, the future is bright in Washington and the rookie phenom Jayden Daniels is at the center of it all.