The Washington Commanders and their fans are filled with hope and even optimism for the first time in many years.
After a new ownership group headed by billionaire investor Josh Harris and NBA legend Magic Johnson took over last year, the team now has a potential franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft.
On ESPN’s “NFL Live,” Louis Riddick said he feels Daniels will be successful early on in the pros, although he did say Washington’s offensive line will have to step up to make that a reality.
“I expect Jayden Daniels to have success in year one, in fact early success.” – @TheSamAcho and @LRiddickESPN have high expectations for the Washington rookie this season 🏈 pic.twitter.com/EpZFLwVkMm
Daniels won several individual awards last season at Louisiana State University, including the Heisman Trophy, and he set an NCAA single-season record with an amazing 208.0 passer rating.
He threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns while completing 72.2 percent of his pass attempts and adding 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground in 2023.
The Commanders, who were once a flagship NFL franchise that won three Super Bowl championships in the 1980s and early 1990s, have been laughingstocks for most of the last 30 years.
But if Daniels becomes a star as quickly as Riddick thinks he will, those lean years could come to a relatively quick ending for them.
Washington went 4-13 last season, and they have made the playoffs just six times and won only two playoff games in the last 30 years.
They have a new head coach in Dan Quinn, who had previously served as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, as well as a new offensive coordinator in Kliff Kingsbury, who worked with Kyler Murray when he was the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach.
