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Jayden Daniels not worried about whether he’ll start in Week 1 for the Commanders

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Suzanne Halliburton | Last updated 5/9/24

Jayden Daniels begins his new job with the Commanders this weekend as Washington starts its rookie minicamp. Whether the No. 2 pick of the NFL Draft starts as QB1 isn’t up to him.

“Do I anticipate (starting Week 1)? I mean, I’m confident in my abilities,” Daniels said in an interview with Keyshawn Johnson. “But that’s a decision that they’ve got to make. That’s above me.”

We’re thinking it is all up to Daniels. The only two other quarterbacks on the Commanders roster are Jake Fromm and Marcus Mariota. Fromm, the former Georgia star, arrived in the NFL as a fifth-round pick by Buffalo in 2020. Mariota, like Daniels, was the second pick of the draft, but in 2015. And like Daniels, the former Oregon standout, is a Heisman winner. But Mariota never lived up to his No. 2 draft billing, as he moved from the Titans, Raiders, Falcons, Eagles and now the Commanders.

Daniels told Johnson that Washington’s new coaching staff has told him he has control on when he takes his first snaps.

“From what I heard, they said whenever I’m ready, I’m ready,” Daniels said. “So whenever I feel like I’m ready, I’m ready.

“They didn’t tell me, ‘Oh, you’ve got to start Week 1,'” he said. “They just said, ‘Whenever you’re ready, you’re ready. Whenever you feel ready, we feel you’re ready, we’re gonna throw you out there.'”

Daniels will start work with Commanders new OC Kliff Kingsbury

The first steps in getting ready start later this week as the Commanders’ draft picks and rookie free agents begin learning the playbook and about each other. Plus, Daniels will need to build a relationship with new Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

The Commanders hired former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as their head coach. And Quinn added Kingsbury, the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Kingsbury has an excellent reputation working with some of the top dual-threat quarterbacks. There are his Heisman winners — Johnny Manziel and Caleb Williams. Plus, as head coach, he selected former Heisman winner Kyler Murray as the top pick of the 2019 Draft.

Daniels is already learning Kingsbury’s playbook. He said he’s also “going back and watching the stuff, it’s different than the Air Raid. We’re not gonna air the ball out 50 times a game. … You’ve got to have balance.

“One thing about Kliff: Kliff is open-minded. He ain’t the OC that’s like, ‘It’s my way. We’ve got to do x, y and z.’ Just having conversations with him, it’s like, ‘Man, what do you like? How can we help the team be better?’ We’re bouncing ideas off each other. I like his scheme, honestly. It suits me, and obviously, you’ve got to evolve with the times. You’ve got to be able to have balance, keep a defense honest now, especially with all those athletes out there, too.”

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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