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  • 2 days ago
JP and BMitch preview what fans can expect from Jayden Daniels and the Commanders quarterback room in 2026.
Transcript
00:00We've been doing this daily, our Commanders Training Camp Countdown
00:04Positional Breakdowns.
00:06Today, we're doing the quarterback.
00:08And we can talk about, let's finish with Jaden.
00:12Let's talk about the depth.
00:15Because Dan Quinn, at minicamp, made a point of he wanted to play
00:21second, third, fourth stringers because he wanted to see what the depth is.
00:26And if we're talking about the depth of quarterback.
00:29Marcus?
00:30I'm going further.
00:31I'm starting at the end here.
00:33Because we have seen them through two seasons of the APDQ Brain Trust
00:39have a third veteran quarterback on the roster.
00:42Right now, they do not.
00:43They have a rookie out of Rutgers, Ethan Kaliak-Manus.
00:47And then they have the undrafted Sam Hartman, who is still in town
00:50for his third season now.
00:53I'm an actions, not words guy.
00:56Late last year, when they could have elevated Hartman,
00:59they brought Driscoll back.
01:01I think that tells you what you need to know.
01:05He's a, I believe, seventh-round rookie.
01:08He's a great, nice kid that seems legit blown away by being in an NFL locker room
01:14with Jaden Daniels.
01:15I don't know that either of those guys are your third stringer.
01:18If this is an organization that believes in having real veteran depth,
01:21I won't be shocked if there's another quarterback brought in to be your third-string quarterback.
01:28Veteran QBX at third string.
01:30I will not be shocked by that.
01:33Or if something happens, and then you get to a place where Marcus is playing,
01:38then maybe you bring somebody in.
01:40We'll see what happens there, but I don't want to disparage anybody on July 17th,
01:46so I'm just going to say I don't think Caliak-Manus or Hartman will play
01:52in a regular season NFL game for the Burgundy and Gold.
01:56In a regular what game?
01:58In a regular season game.
01:59Oh, okay, okay, okay.
02:00It'll be a fun thing.
02:01Well, we hope not.
02:02Right.
02:02It'll be a fun thing to watch.
02:03Because if they do, it'll be a problem.
02:04But, like, I think most organizations, if you're talking third string quarterback,
02:07you're probably in big trouble anyway, so we're not going to spend too much time on that.
02:10But as far as a backup quarterback goes, because we're talking the whole position here, right,
02:15the position group, the quarterback room, I'd argue Mariota is one of the best backup
02:20quarterbacks in football.
02:22Hell yeah.
02:24I don't know.
02:27Who's the Giants backup?
02:28Jameis still?
02:30Yeah, Jameis is up there.
02:31And people love him because he's a riot.
02:36He's a riot.
02:36Yeah.
02:37Like, so I just Googled this, right?
02:41Mac Jones is the backup in San Francisco who maybe looked better than the starter last year.
02:47Mac Jones playing for Kyle Shanahan was very good last year.
02:51There's been some talk if the Niners are going to trade Mac Jones.
02:54Hasn't happened.
02:56CBS Sports ranked the best backups.
02:59Mac Jones is there.
03:00Flacco backing up Burrow.
03:02Flacco balled out when he came in.
03:04And I think what Flacco recognizes is I got two of the best receivers in football.
03:09I'm going to let, I'm going to slang this thing.
03:11I'm throwing it tall.
03:12Yeah.
03:14And for all of Flacco's inability to move, that is not a mobile quarterback.
03:22But he's got a big arm and always has.
03:24Yeah.
03:24So Flacco is a backup and since he really fits, Marcus really fits here.
03:30And he really fit in Cliff's scheme.
03:33We'll see if he really fits in Blau's scheme, but I think he will.
03:36I think Marcus as a backup quarterback is really good.
03:40Yeah.
03:40You talk about Jameis.
03:43I guess Drew Locke is the backup in Seattle.
03:45So there's, there are some like former starters are now backups that are good.
03:50Um, I'd put Marcus right up, right in that conversation as far as best backup quarterbacks
03:55in football.
03:57And he and Jaden clearly have a tight bond.
03:59If you think about just the similarities between those two former number two overall picks,
04:04Heisman trophy winners, like West coast guys, like they can run.
04:08Yeah.
04:08And I think the experience and the stuff that Marcus has been through also is something that
04:13kind of helped Jaden's out.
04:15Totally.
04:16Yeah.
04:16Now we get to the top of the line here.
04:20Quarterback breakdown, Jaden Daniels.
04:22Uh, I saw this, I believe this is coming from fanatics fest.
04:27Patrick Mahomes was asked about Jaden Daniels.
04:30And I think this might've been a part like in response to something in the Netflix quarterback
04:34series coming up at 1230.
04:36Martenzi Johnson covers the commanders for notice.
04:39And I thought this was a really clever piece of content.
04:43Martenzi did a whole article on the things that Jaden talked about in the quarterback series
04:47on Netflix.
04:48We're going to do that in about an hour.
04:50Um, but this was my homes talking about Jaden Daniels, Patrick Mahomes talking about Jaden
04:56Daniels.
04:56Yeah.
04:57I mean, you want to go against the best, the best.
04:59And, uh, Jaden, the way he played last year, man, he's, he's in that category.
05:01And so, um, he's a talented football player.
05:04I've watched plays since he was Arizona state, the LSU until now in the NFL.
05:08And Cliff speaks extremely highly of him, um, as a person.
05:11Um, and so I'm hoping he gets healthy, uh, sooner rather than later, but.
05:19So I think with Jaden, let's do, let me ask you the on field question, right?
05:26New offense.
05:27How difficult could that be for him to deploy?
05:32Jaden?
05:32Yeah.
05:33I don't think it's going to be difficult because I think he's been a part of building this offense.
05:37And I think it's like you stated, you said it many a time.
05:41It's not going to be completely away from what Cliff did.
05:45It's going to have some parts of that.
05:47It's going to have some new parts.
05:48I just think he's a talented enough guy where he will adjust to it.
05:51Um, I agree.
05:54I, there are folks that want to be concerned about Jaden's ability to go under center.
06:02I don't share that concern.
06:04No, I like.
06:06I try not to say stuff like just dismiss people's opinion, but if you've been playing football,
06:12as long as he's been playing football, you've been on the center before you understand it.
06:16They started this last year before the season was over when he started doing the center stuff
06:20because they knew what they were going to be doing in the off season.
06:23They made their move to change it up.
06:25And right now they're going on the center.
06:27But the thing about it, Jaden, as you just heard Pat Mahomes and a lot of the other quarterbacks,
06:33they, game recognized game.
06:35They know this kid can play.
06:38And whenever there's a change in football, those outside of it like to make it like it's so difficult.
06:44No, it's football.
06:46You know, yeah, it may be deployed a different way, but the guy still knows how to play football.
06:50It won't be that hard.
06:53I agree.
06:54I think my concerns for Jaden, I think the one legitimate concern you can have for Jaden is injury.
07:05Yeah.
07:06And I think you can say that about a number of quarterbacks in the NFL.
07:12And people can talk about his frame.
07:14I get this question like, oh, you think Jaden's bulked up?
07:17No, I don't think he's going to.
07:19He's 25.
07:21Like at some point he is who he is and he's extremely gifted.
07:25He's one of the most accurate passers in the NFL.
07:29He has the poise and the mind.
07:32He makes quick decisions.
07:34And then you don't want to lose the incredible athleticism.
07:38Like I don't think like people are like, oh, I'll put 20 pounds of muscle on him.
07:43We're going into year three.
07:44And does he look marginally different than as a rookie?
07:46Sure.
07:46But like, you know, as he age, he'll get bigger.
07:49But just throwing 20 pounds of muscle don't solve anything because he has an innate ability
07:55and has a damn good ability of moving around and doing different things.
07:58If you just start throwing muscles on him, he may not be able to do all the stuff he does
08:01now,
08:01which you like him for.
08:02So I think there's going to be some schematic things that will protect Jaden a bit more.
08:07I think you'll see less designed quarterback runs.
08:10I'm not saying he won't run, but you'll see less designed quarterback runs.
08:14I also think a stronger run game and getting up under center more will help the entire offense
08:20and it'll help receivers get separation, have a real play action.
08:23I think there will be designed bootlegs to use Jaden's legs, which I think he'll be lethal at.
08:28So I think offensively, this scheme is going to take a step forward, frankly.
08:34I really believe that.
08:36I think all of that helps Jaden.
08:38Because I think what Blau is trying to do is do things that's going to take some of the pressure
08:44off of Jaden.
08:45And I think that, in turn, will help him and also alleviate him trying to go out there and feel
08:51like he has to do it all.
08:56Now, for Jaden, the one concern that I think gets overblown is the injury stuff.
09:04And I think that's a concern for a ton of quarterbacks.
09:07Like, very few quarterbacks.
09:09Where's the Fowler list?
09:12Fowler had his list of the top 10 that Jaden fell outside of, right?
09:16And of the top 5, he had Allen 1.
09:21Allen's superpower through, how long has he been?
09:25He was drafted in 2018, I believe, right?
09:28He has been largely durable, which is pretty damn remarkable for the way he plays.
09:33Because he plays a physical brand of quarterback.
09:36But Allen, of the tier of quarterbacks that have clearly separated, which I would include,
09:41Allen, Burrow, Mahomes, Stafford, Lamar.
09:45Allen has been by far the most durable.
09:48Like, by a mile.
09:51Stafford plays hurt, but gets hurt.
09:54And sometimes you see it limit his ability.
09:56I think Stafford's also 37, 38.
09:58Like, Josh Allen's about to play his 30-year-old season.
10:02Mahomes, prior to last year, had been very durable.
10:06And I think Pat coming off a big knee injury.
10:09He even played with the stuff he had.
10:11I mean, think about the ankle injuries that dude played through.
10:14But two of the, so on the durability test, you've got Allen at the top, undoubtedly, then Stafford.
10:22Mahomes, prior to this injury, you would have put Mahomes ahead of all of them.
10:25Because the ankle stuff he played through was outrageous.
10:28But now Mahomes is coming off a big knee.
10:30That's a big deal.
10:31When you have this conversation about the top tier, Burrow and Lamar have missed a ton of time.
10:38Hell yeah.
10:38And it's not part of the conversation.
10:41Meanwhile, everybody's freaked out about Jaden.
10:43But what happens is people develop narratives on certain people.
10:50And they go with it.
10:51They don't ever change it.
10:52It's going to be there forever.
10:54Like, when you start, you know, like the running backs.
10:59When they say a guy is, oh, he's too, he's too small.
11:02And then you look at another running back, exact same size, or way less than him.
11:06And they never say a word.
11:08You know, I was always called the small running back.
11:12That's why I shouldn't be running a lot.
11:13I weigh more than Emmitt.
11:14I weigh more than Barry.
11:16I don't think anyone's ever stood next to you and called you small.
11:19No, but that's how I was.
11:20In my early career, that's what it was.
11:23Well, you know, the way he's built.
11:25But then, when it came out of kick returning and punt returning, well, maybe too big.
11:31May not have shifty.
11:32Did it stop anything?
11:34I just think people develop narratives and they run with them.
11:38And half the time, they don't know what the hell they're talking about.
11:41I think that's right to some degree.
11:43It was certainly part of the pre-draft process with Jaden was like the concern over his frame.
11:48I think in two years, one year he didn't miss any time with an injury.
11:52But he played with that rib injury as a rookie.
11:54Last year, he missed a lot of time.
11:57He played four complete games.
11:58He started seven.
11:59He missed over half the season.
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