Yes, the Washington Commanders brought in head coach Dan Quinn to tighten up a defense that was the league’s worst in both scoring and total defense.
But the selection of quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in last April’s NFL Draft also showed that this team expects big things offensively.
Does that mean fantasy football managers should expect big numbers from Daniels in Year 1? Here’s the fantasy outlook for last year’s Heisman Trophy winner.
Jayden Daniels’ Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
The third Heisman Trophy winner from LSU — and second in the last five seasons, following Joe Burrow’s win in 2019 — Daniels enters the NFL with a sparkling resume. Last year with the Tigers, Daniels averaged 317.7 passing yards per game in just 12 contests, with 40 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.
Oh, and he also added over 1,100 rushing yards (1,134) and 10 TD runs last season, averaging 8.4 yards per carry and 11.7 yards per pass attempt. So, the dual-threat with Daniels most likely has fantasy managers excited.
Daniels’ ability was never more on display than in a battle vs. the Florida Gators last November, where he became the first player in FBS history to pass for at least 350 yards (372) and rush for at least 200 yards (234) in one game.
The way Daniels avoids mistakes is equally appealing to fantasy managers. As mentioned, Daniels threw just four interceptions last season across 327 pass attempts. Plus, in 55 career games with both Arizona State and LSU, Daniels threw just 20 picks.
And despite the Commanders’ lack of offensive production in recent years — they have finished 20th or worse in the NFL in total offense for six straight seasons — Daniels has weapons to work with.
Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin has had over 1,000 receiving yards in four straight seasons, and fellow wideout Jahan Dotson are solid pieces in that receiving core. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. had nearly as many touchdown receptions (4) as touchdown runs (5) last season too.
Add in the fact that Daniels’ offensive coordinator this season will be Kliff Kingsbury, who did a pretty good job with a healthy Kyler Murray as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Is Daniels a Good Fantasy Pick?
Daniels is ranked as the No. 12 quarterback in Pro Football Network’s 2024 Fantasy Rankings.
Not only is that a higher ranking than No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams, but it is also higher than a number of quality veteran starters, including Kirk Cousins, Tua Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert.
This speaks not only to Daniels’ potential to be an impact fantasy player right away but also to the offensive personnel the Commanders possess.
While he has been competing with Marcus Mariota, another former No. 2 overall draft pick, for the QB1 role, it would be a surprise if Daniels wasn’t the starting quarterback for the season opener.
That could bring fantasy managers and Washington fans something they haven’t seen in recent years: quality numbers from a Commanders quarterback.
