The Washington Commanders have officially selected LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. After a year of dramatic organizational change, the franchise finally has a franchise QB to usher in a new era in the nation’s capital.
Daniels, of course, is coming off a spectacular 2023 campaign at LSU where he produced 3,812 passing yards, 1,134 rushing yards, and 50 total touchdowns to win the Heisman Trophy. This shot him straight towards the top of most draft boards and he managed to overtake North Carolina’s Drake Maye for the No. 2 QB prospect in the class.
Daniels will now enter a new-look operation in D.C. with new head coach Dan Quinn and will work directly with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels fantasy football outlook
Rookie first-round quarterbacks are often thrown right in the fire and Jayden Daniels will most likely be the Week 1 starter for Washington barring injury. Veterans Marcus Mariota and Jeff Driskel are his backups and they shouldn’t provide any serious competition for the starting job, instead serving support roles in the QB room. That’s a good start for prospective fantasy managers looking to draft the rookie this season.
Jayden Daniels’ supporting cast
Daniels will have a pretty nice offensive supporting cast to work with, including a handful of effective receiving weapons. Terry McLaurin has put together four straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons and he’s definitely a great option to look for if you’re a rookie QB. Jahan Dotson is also a good receiver weapon to have and with an upgrade at QB, he could potentially have a breakout year similar to Nico Collins with the Texans last year. Meanwhile, third-year running back Brian Robinson Jr. could help take some of the burden off the rookie’s shoulders and he could get his first 1,000 yard rushing campaign if he’s healthy.
The weapons don’t stop there, however, as the Commanders went out and signed two veterans in the offseason to make things easier for the rookie. Running back Austin Ekeler may have slowed down a bit, but he should still be an effective pass-catcher out of the backfield. Tight end Zach Ertz will also be an easy target to look for over the middle if he’s able to stay healthy throughout the season.
Given that this will be a Kliff Kingsbury offense with plenty of Air Raid concepts, Daniels will get plenty of opportunities to use his arm. Kyler Murray averaged 32.4 pass attempts per game during his four seasons with Kingsbury in Arizona, so we should expect a similar workload for the rookie. However, keep in mind that Washington’s offensive line was poor last season, yielding 65 sacks with a 22.1% pressure rate. Barring significant improvement, Daniels could be under pressure a lot, leading to unfortunate turnovers
Where should Jayden Daniels rank among QBs in fantasy football?
Daniels is definitely someone you’d want to scoop up early in a keeper or dynasty league. The potential is definitely there for him to quickly blossom into one of the league’s top quarterbacks and it will pay dividends for you in the long run.
Re-draft leagues are a different proposition and you’d generally try to avoid drafting rookie QB’s unless they are an elite prospect like Daniels. I’d put him in QB13-18 range as he should be productive right out the gate, but won’t produce at an elite level quite yet. If you are thinking about drafting Daniels, the best strategy is to secure at least one veteran on your roster before stashing him away for later use.