Jayden Daniels

Drafted second overall this year, Daniels is the expected Week 1 starter in Washington, even if the team holds a perfunctory competition with free-agent acquisition Marcus Mariota. Daniels is an outstanding athlete, but at 6-4, 210, his slim build raises durability concerns. That’s about the only concern. Armed with a quick release, Daniels is accurate all over the field. Unlike others in his draft, Daniels' 72.2 completion percentage last season (7th in FBS) was not built on accuracy-inflating short passes -- his average target depth (10.2) and YPA (11.7) both led the nation. Daniels has a strong arm, though not an elite one, and is an excellent deep-ball thrower. He operates well in the pocket but can also play on the run, and it’s his dual-threat ability that is intriguing both for Washington and fantasy managers (he ran for more than 2,000 yards and 21 TDs at LSU the last two years). Daniels sometimes holds the ball longer than necessary, resulting in sacks, and his passing stats in college were solid-but-unexceptional prior to his Heisman-winning 2023 campaign. The Commanders have decent veteran targets in RB Austin Ekeler, WR Terry McLaurin, WR Jahan Dotson and TE Zach Ertz, also bringing in rookie TE Ben Sinnott (Round 2) and WR Luke McCaffrey (Round 3). Daniels is lauded for his high football IQ and seems to fit well in offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme, but even if the rookie needs time to figure out the passing game his rushing ability should create fantasy value. Read Past Outlooks