Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ scrambling ability was the main bright spot in a mostly dull first game of the Dan Quinn era in Washington on Sunday, a 37-20 loss to Tampa Bay.
After getting the chance to rewatch the film, Quinn said Monday that he’d have liked to see the rookie quarterback give the routes more of an opportunity to develop before taking off.
“I think if you’d asked him, there’ll probably be a few throws that he would either like to rip or where the progression may have taken him,” Quinn said, via the official transcript. “But by and large, I felt from the competitor side, that was it. Those were some of the things I saw even on some of the runs, we didn’t have a lot of design quarterback runs, but some of the ones that he did, I think if he’d asked him again, he’d probably wanna let it rip to one of the guys on some ops. So, missed opportunities. Those are the hard ones. I think the one to (receiver) Terry (McLaurin) to start the second half and those ones, but by and large, he really felt comfortable in those spaces.”
It’s natural for a rookie quarterback to be sped up in his first NFL action, particularly when facing a Todd Bowles defense on the road. The Commanders’ first-round pick certainly didn’t have the worst Sunday among his draft class. Daniels used his dynamic rushing ability to get out of tight quarters, generating 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He finished 17-of-24 passing for 184 yards while taking two sacks.
Daniels’ 88 rushing yards were the most by a rookie QB in a Week 1 debut all-time. His 16 carries were the most in Commanders franchise history by a signal-caller. Daniels joined Robert Griffin III (2012) as the only Washington rookie QBs to start Week 1 for the franchise since the AFL-NFL merger. Both had 40+ rush yards on the road against NFC South opponents in their debuts.
Daniels’ legs helped keep drives alive, but it can’t be the only productive part of Kliff Kingsbury’s offense moving forward. The Commanders’ leading receivers were running backs Austin Ekeler (four catches, 52 yards) and Brian Robinson (3/49). Wideouts combined for 55 total yards, with No. 1 Terry McLaurin generating two catches for 17 yards.
Quinn was asked if Daniels’ 16 rushes were more than he’d like to see.
“Certainly not all of those are designed quarterback runs,” the coach said. “I think that’s important to say, but I think he’d be the first to say the same thing. To say, ‘I had a chance to go rip it to somebody else.’ Sometimes, you can see a rush or a pattern break, and there’s open space, and you go. For him, create it when it’s there, when you can get outside the pocket. We’d love to see him remain a passer first, and I think it’s going to come with more experience, honestly. When I can go extend it to throw it, when, ‘Hey, this plays over, I’ll get rid of it and move on to the next play.’ So, I think you’ll see that trajectory continue as we go. Certainly, 18 carries is not the model that we’re looking for, certainly with Brian and Austin and others here. But at the end of it, I do think we’ll continue to grow in that spot. But certainly not by design to have that many.”
Daniels’ ability to get through a progression and give routes more of a chance will be part of his development. It will come with reps. In the meantime, the Heisman Trophy winner will continue to use his legs as an advantage against the pass rush. The bigger concern for Quinn should be the big hits the QB takes. Daniels needs to protect himself when he does run, which includes working on his sliding technique to avoid crushing blows.
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