C.J. Stroud's unbelievable and historic rookie season came with a warning: Don't expect anything like this to happen again soon. Rookies don't usually make the NFL look easy, especially at quarterback.
Then Jayden Daniels came along with the Washington Commanders, and he moved the bar up again.
Daniels' unbelievable rookie season will continue in the NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He has been so good, he has opponents calling him the greatest rookie quarterback in NFL history.
"Jayden Daniels, man. He's an amazing kid man," Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. said on his podcast, via CMNDERS on X formerly Twitter. "Even though he's a hellified player, man, the more reason I've got the most up respect for him man, is because he's a very, very humble dude, man.
"To see what he's doing as a rookie, I will say he's the greatest rookie quarterback ever. Ever."
Slay would know. In a Week 16 game Daniels threw five touchdowns, including the game-winner with six seconds left, to beat the Eagles. It's Philadelphia's only loss since the end of September.
Maybe it's a little gamesmanship from Slay, overpraising an opponent before a big game. But Daniels had another key endorsement.
"In my opinion he's had the best rookie season of all time," Stroud said, via Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle. "Records are meant to be broken."
Daniels likely is the greatest rookie quarterback ever. If the Commanders win two more games, the debate will be over.
Jayden Daniels' case as greatest rookie QB
A rookie quarterback has never started a Super Bowl, and has obviously never won one. But nothing about Daniels' rookie season seems normal.
Washington was 4-13 last season, earned the second pick of the NFL Draft to use on Daniels, and the rest of the roster didn't undergo some massive upgrade. The Commanders had just one other player make the Pro Bowl, and that was receiver Terry McLaurin. Daniels isn't the first quarterback to lead a team to a conference championship game, but the other five (Shaun King, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez and Brock Purdy) had much, much better teams around them.
Sometimes quarterbacks get assigned too much credit for team success, but in this case Daniels deserves all the recognition he gets for turning and entire franchise around.
Daniels set NFL rookie records for rushing yards by a quarterback and completion percentage by a rookie. That duality is rare. If you like big moments, he had plenty. Daniels had four touchdown passes in the last 30 seconds of regulation or overtime, including a ridiculous Hail Mary to beat the Chicago Bears, and that was the most by any player since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger according to ESPN. Then he led a game-winning drive over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first playoff start, and helped beat the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions in his second playoff start.
It's not just Daniels' stats or selected highlights that reflect how good he has been. It's easy to see how dominant he has been, as a prolific passer and an electric rusher too.
"He's a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by tape," Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "The guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he's playing so good, because of their offense and things they trust him to do, and he has come through for them in a big way."
We're to the point in which 1983 Dan Marino, 2004 Roethlisberger, 2011 Cam Newton, 2012 Robert Griffin III, 2016 Dak Prescott, Stroud last season and any other rookie quarterback have to tip their cap. There's never been a rookie quarterback quite like Daniels this season. And with due respect to Randy Moss, Eric Dickerson, Jevon Kearse and a few others, he might be the greatest rookie period.
Is Daniels already the NFC's best?
Which NFC quarterback would you pick over Daniels right now?
Part of the reason Daniels has an argument for the top spot is the conference doesn't have a lot of great quarterbacks right now. If Daniels played in the AFC we wouldn't be having this conversation. But can we make an argument for Daniels over Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford and Brock Purdy right now? Absolutely. Daniels was already one of the three NFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks this season. The others listed have had great stretches, but none have the upside of Daniels. It's arguable none of them are better right now. Only Daniels and Hurts are still alive in the playoffs, and Hurts has a supporting cast that's light years ahead of Daniels.
There's time to have that conversation. There should be some reluctance to crown Daniels after seeing Stroud fall into a bit of a sophomore slump. Just because Daniels has been great as a rookie doesn't mean he'll be greater next season and beyond. But there's no denying that we're in the middle of seeing something special. Daniels won a Heisman Trophy at LSU and then went right into dominating at the NFL level.
And if Daniels drags this Commanders team to a Super Bowl, it seems safe to say it again, albeit for a second straight year: We won't see something like this again for a long, long time.
