Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is well on his way to winning the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Daniels has been so good that many in the NFL have taken notice, including division rival Micah Parsons. The Dallas Cowboys EDGE puts Daniels right up there with some of the greats in NFL history.
Micah Parsons Compares Jayden Daniels To NFL Greats
On “Inside the NFL,” Parsons had some high praise for Daniels.
“In every moment, it seems like he’s never fazed,” Parsons told Ryan Clark and Co.
“So when I see that, it’s just like I can’t go against a guy like that. We’ve only seen two guys in that league like that, that’s not fazed like that when it matters the most and that’s Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
“So when I see this guy’s not fazed, and at every moment he just seems to shine the brightest, and he just put those drives together to win those games, I just can’t bet against a guy like that.”
.@MicahhParsons11 says he sees some similarities between @JayD__5, @PatrickMahomes and @TomBrady 👀@insidetheNFL Wednesdays 9/8c on @TheCW pic.twitter.com/bjXQ6nx7Y4
— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2025
Looking at the stats, Parsons might be onto something. Across the group’s first 18 starts, Daniels has very comparable numbers to Mahomes and Brady in one-score games with five minutes remaining.
Daniels has a 66.7% win percentage, a 112.9 passer rating, and 40.6% first downs per pass attempt. Meanwhile, Mahomes and Brady have a 68.4% win percentage, a 103.3 passer rating, and 37.3% first downs per pass attempt.
Parsons has played against the best in the league, and now it seems he’s putting Daniels in that tier. Anyone who has watched Daniels play this season would have a hard time arguing with Parsons, as the rookie is certainly special.
Daniels has been clutch in the closing minutes of games, which makes him dangerous as the Commanders continue their playoff march.
Parsons Is Not the Only One Impressed With Daniels
Parsons isn’t the only one who’s noticed how good Daniels is. Brady recognized Daniels’ talent early in the season and praised the young quarterback.
“Jayden Daniels, he’s on this for back-to-back weeks,” Brady said on Fox NFL. “He led the Commanders to their third straight win. Last week, 91% completion percentage, this week, 87%. He’s not looking like a rookie at all.
“He’s in total control of the offense. He’s spreading the ball around to lots of his receivers, nine of them this last week. He runs the ball. He’s doing so many great things. And he’s got his team sitting atop the NFC East.”
Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, like Parsons, compared Daniels to Mahomes.
I know @JayD__5 has been great in the moment, same thing we have said about @PatrickMahomes, but what ppl miss is that they are good in the moment bc they are GOOD all the time with the little things!!!!
Watching Jayden yesterday – always has a plan, makes the right play when…
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) January 13, 2025
“I know Jayden Daniels has been great in the moment, same thing we have said about Patrick Mahomes, but what ppl miss is that they are good in the moment bc they are GOOD all the time with the little things!!!!” Warner said.
“Watching Jayden yesterday – always has a plan, makes the right play when things aren’t there, has good tech & understanding of timing, understands he needs an answer vs pressure,” Warner continued. “The great ones do the routine things right so they find themselves in those moments often & then they handle the moments well bc their NORMAL sustains them at all times!!”
Entering the season, there was a lot of pressure on the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, Daniels is as advertised so far.
This season, Daniels was the ninth-best quarterback in the league, according to PFN’s QB+ metric, where we assign a letter grade to every quarterback performance and factor in a number of stats such as success rate when pressured, third-down conversion rate, pocket production, and clutch performance.
Daniels ranked just ahead of, you guessed it, Mahomes.