The Jayden Daniels Tracker

[NoCalSkins]

Eagles fans forget that they were ready to dump Hurts after his second season before the front office went out and built a strong team around him. Hurts is a good to very good facilitator but other than some of his patient opportunistic runs, he isn't the type of QB a defense is game planning around. If you are a defense you probably much prefer the ball in his hands than Barkley or any of the skill position players from short quicker passes that are hard to break up. That is the main difference to me. The truly elite QB's in the NFL at any given time are the ones that power the engine. It doesn't mean they will always make up for every single shortcoming on the team every single season, but the eye test alone says D-Coordinators are constantly trying to figure out ways to slow them down. The vibe I get from Hurts is D-Coordinators mostly don't want the front seven turning their back on due to his scrambling, but again his scrambles are mostly coming after sitting in a clean pocket because of the O-line and no one is open so he takes off at that point.

I view him similar to Purdy in the sense that they both made names for themselves during seasons where the rosters were stacked and very much overall the best in the NFL. Last season the 49ers took on some injuries and when it was time for Purdy to step up and become a force multiplyer he fell back into the pack. I wouldn't be surprised if/when the Eagles current window closes, Hurts starts to look very human with the protective shell around him and/or facing a defense that can limit the rest of the offense.

 

[Anselmheifer]

I agree with that, for now. Surely makes a difference for the next couple of years. Long term I I could see Maye being just as good but not better. Only way Maye is the better choice is if JD’s body doesn’t hold up as long, which was a concern then but less so now that we’ve seen him progress in protecting himself during games. Not counting the last one.

Really? As good? Based on size and tools? With moderate production? He’s never shown himself to be that guy.

I think Maye could be really, really good. And if I were the Pats, I’d be glad to have him.

He’s never been a serious heisman contender. Never a ROTY contender. Never a borderline MVP contender. A lot of guys have arms. Size. Wheels. Not that many have, “It”. And of those that do, how many have the work ethic?

One reason I don’t worry about Jayden’s sophomore year, or long term slumps, is that he went right from looking like Jayden Fucking Daniels on a loaded LSU team, and winning the Heisman, to looking like the exact same guy, but with an improved ability to throw to the middle of the field, on a waaaaaaay less talented Washington team. I’ll still feel better after one more season of production, but to me, last year just reinforces that what we saw in college was real.

Maye has miles to go to look like he can be that caliber of guy. MILES. But at least he has the tools to do it and has shown flashes. He’s good enough that I’m glad he’s in the AFC.

 

[Simeon]

Really? As good? Based on size and tools? With moderate production? He’s never shown himself to be that guy.

I think Maye could be really, really good. And if I were the Pats, I’d be glad to have him.

He’s never been a serious heisman contender. Never a ROTY contender. Never a borderline MVP contender. A lot of guys have arms. Size. Wheels. Not that many have, “It”. And of those that do, how many have the work ethic?

One reason I don’t worry about Jayden’s sophomore year, or long term slumps, is that he went right from looking like Jayden Fucking Daniels on a loaded LSU team, and winning the Heisman, to looking like the exact same guy, but with an improved ability to throw to the middle of the field, on a waaaaaaay less talented Washington team. I’ll still feel better after one more season of production, but to me, last year just reinforces that what we saw in college was real.

Maye has miles to go to look like he can be that caliber of guy. MILES. But at least he has the tools to do it and has shown flashes. He’s good enough that I’m glad he’s in the AFC.

Before his senior season Jayden had not shown to be that guy either. We now see he (Maye) has the potential but has not developed into that guy yet. Again, most players with high potential might not get there but they are the only ones who can. The one thing I see now that I didn’t know then is that Maye reportedly has a good work ethic but Jayden’s is off the charts.

It’s not a knock on Jayden to say that Maye could also be elite.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Honestly I wanted JJ McCarthy at the time. I’m happy to be wrong, Jayden has proven to be not just great but special, and I would not have any other QB. I still think JJ will be good though.

I never will understand the fascination with McCarthy. I went through a play by play analysis of McCarthy against (I think) Alabama and came away massively unimpressed with just about everything he did. He seemed slow on his reads, inaccurate, and had nowhere near the arm the other top 3 QBs had. Not that it was like Taylor Heinicke squirt gun bad, but it was at best Kirk Cousins average.

I get all the intangibles and all that stuff, but from a pure football perspective, I just didn't see it.

Seems like at least Sean Payton (who is a gigantic douche bag but does know QB talent) agreed with me because he could have taken McCarthy and jumped him to take Nix. And that move has seemed to work out well.

I get that we can't judge HOW well it worked out because McCarthy missed the entire season due to injury. But Payton also agreed Nix was a better prospect than JJ.

 

[HOF44]

I always remember this velocity ranking for QB’s whoever arm strength comes up. Granted not all throw at the combine. But it gives kinda a baseline.

Notable QBs and their NFL Combine throw velocity. Dart answering some questions about arm strength.. Josh Allen, 62 mphPatrick Mahomes, 62 mphJoe Milton, 62 mphJJ McCarthy, 61 mphBaker Mayfield, 60 mphCJ Stroud, 59 mphKirk Cousins, 59 mphMalik Willis, 58 mph, Jaxson Dart, 58 mph Carson Wentz, 57 mphJustin Herbert, 55 mphGardner Minshew, 55 mphDak Prescott, 54 mphJalen Hurts, 54 mphAnthony Richardson, 54 mphBrock Purdy, 52 mphMitch Trubisky, 51 mphLamar Jackson, 49 mphDeshaun Watson, 49 mph

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I see a world in 2-3 years where all of the top 4 QBs taken in 2024 are in the top 10 QBs. I know Caleb had at best an "interesting" rookie season, but he wasn't poop on a stick, and he will have better coaching from that asshat Ben Johnson going forward.

I could absolutely see Daniels, Maye, Nix and McCarthy as top 10 QBs in the next 2 years.

I also think Maye has almost as high a ceiling as any of them, the only question is whether he can reach it. I view him a lot like early Josh Allen. Big, strong, physical, athletic guy, huge arm, bad accuracy. It took a bit, but Allen now is really accurate, and until Mahomes and Reid turn the Bills into their bitch in the playoffs, is inarguably one of the top 4 QBs in the NFL.

To me, Nix has the lowest ceiling of that group, but he's also in great situation, a lot like Drew Brees.

 

[Chris]

I always remember this velocity ranking for QB’s whoever arm strength comes up. Granted not all throw at the combine. But it gives kinda a baseline.

Notable QBs and their NFL Combine throw velocity. Dart answering some questions about arm strength.. Josh Allen, 62 mphPatrick Mahomes, 62 mphJoe Milton, 62 mphJJ McCarthy, 61 mphBaker Mayfield, 60 mphCJ Stroud, 59 mphKirk Cousins, 59 mphMalik Willis, 58 mph, Jaxson Dart, 58 mph Carson Wentz, 57 mphJustin Herbert, 55 mphGardner Minshew, 55 mphDak Prescott, 54 mphJalen Hurts, 54 mphAnthony Richardson, 54 mphBrock Purdy, 52 mphMitch Trubisky, 51 mphLamar Jackson, 49 mphDeshaun Watson, 49 mph

McCarthy had the highest velocity (mph) of the QBs that participated in the Combine. The allure for me of JJ were the intangibles: leadership, maturity at a tender age, etc. Harbaugh’s offensive scheme didn’t do him many favors either. He reminded me, in many ways, of another UM QB that was overlooked there but had many similar traits. Additionally, compared to Maye he has some of that ‘it factor’ that Drake doesn’t.

He also doesn’t look as good though as Maye does in his uniform. 😉

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

McCarthy had the highest velocity (mph) of the QBs that participated in the Combine. The allure for me of JJ were the intangibles: leadership, maturity at a tender age, etc. Harbaugh’s offensive scheme didn’t do him many favors either. He reminded me, in many ways, of another UM QB that was overlooked there but had many similar traits. Additionally, compared to Maye he has some of that ‘it factor’ that Drake doesn’t.

He also doesn’t look as good though as Maye does in his uniform. 😉

I saw that but when I watched 2 games, the Alabama game and the Ohio State game, I came away SUPER unimpressed with his ability to drive the ball to the sidelines. If felt as though every throw he tried in that area, it hung up.

We'll see. I just never saw it. I think Adam Peters did, the reporting is if the pick for some reason wasn't Daniels, it was McCarthy over Maye, but that's somewhat an academic exercise because it was always Daniels.

I think if the Bears had picked Daniels, unless Kliff threw his body in front of the train and said "DO NOT PICK CALEB" since he worked with him at USC the year prior, we would have picked Caleb. I just don't think there was a chance those two weren't going 1/2 in some order.

 

[Chris]

My point isn’t JJ over Jayden, it’s JJ over Drake. Let’s not forget that one of the major knocks here on Jayden, with a capital M, was his apparent inability to throw over the middle. That opinion was manufactured because it was dictated by LSUs scheme. Scheme matters and I maintain that JJ would have benefited by playing in a more prostyle system though the team, with it’s personnel, wouldn’t have. If he struggles in Minny under O’Connell then I reserve the right to reassess. 😉

 

[Faithful Fan]

The thing that impressed me about JJ McCarthy was his mechanics, great footwork, pocket presence, throwing motion, etc. Also he has leadership skills (I saw Minnesota just named him a Captain), he’s a proven winner, and he’s a better athlete than people think. This year will tell us a lot about him, but I would bet on him being good for a long time.

Still in hindsight it is plain to see Jayden was the best quarterback in that stacked 2024 draft class. He has proven to be not just a gifted athlete as a runner and passer, but also one of those special players who thrives in “winning time moments.” I’m so glad we finally have a real franchise quarterback.

The only remaining concern is about his longevity, as running quarterbacks are known to have shorter careers, and I have RG3 PTSD, but only time will tell about that. At least Jayden seems to be better about protecting himself than Robert was, and he has been fairly durable so far. I hope and pray he remains healthy because there is no question he is one of the elite players at his position.

 

[Chris]

I personally wouldn’t use RG3 as any level of comp for Jayden. Robert was a straight-line speed athlete without real passing talent or neck up processing abilities. Robert was a one trick pony that was resistant to coaching. Both are ultra confident players but only one has the right to be.

Jayden is at risk to injury, no doubt. But so are the other 31 starting QBs.

 

[Conn]

Good decision-making on and off the field will be a huge contributing factor if Daniels achieves greatness and his draft class peers don’t. Talent and athleticism only takes you so far.

 

[RandyHolt]

It will be interesting to see if Jayden and Nabers hang out at mid field during commercials breaks

 

[Conn]

Pretty cool:

 

[Califan007]

Robert was a straight-line speed athlete without real passing talent…

Disagree there…dude absolutely had real passing talent.

One ex-NFL exec (don’t remember who) wrote a pre-draft article saying RG3 was a better passer than Andrew Luck. Not a better QB or would have a better career…but could throw the ball as well as— if not better than— Luck, but it wasn’t really being talked about. I posted the article and the guy’s film breakdown back then on ES.

Where he was lacking was in a bunch of intangibles, along with all the other stuff you mentioned lol…not to mention having Dan Snyder as his owner, with Dan taking Griffin under his wing to be his BFF and offering him advice on how to handle disagreements with his head coach.

 

[Chris]

Having ‘an arm’ and having ‘passing talent’ are two different things. At least to me. The first he had, the second he didn’t.

 

[Conn]

That dude must have been on mu



Having ‘an arm’ and having ‘passing talent’ are two different things. At least to me. The first he had, the second he didn’t.

Yeah. Griffin threw a beautiful ball and was a great thrower. On the whole (there were exceptions) he didn’t have great touch or great ability to place the ball.

And that doesn’t even begin to touch his problems with processing and knowing what he was looking at from the defense. People talk about his career as some great big “what if”. If he’d stayed healthy he never would have become a great QB because he never would have developed into a great passer. We would have been stuck in a really awkward position with him even if his legs kept him relevant for a few more years.

But back to the point, even during his great rookie year Griffin wasn’t the passing talent that Luck was. Luck had some absolutely breathtakingly elite throws as a rookie that had people projecting him to be a great, despite his overall production and high INT total. Griffin hit some nice deep balls and some nice seam lasers to TE’s but he was clearly not an effortlessly elite passer at all. Just a great arm.

Luckily Daniels is an elite mixture of both so we don’t have to worry about that anymore.

 

[heisenberg]

Rg3 didn't have that thing you cant measure but you can see, "IT"

There were so many times where it seemed the pressure got in his head and he'd throw a simple swing pass into the dirt or to use an analogy miss a layup.

if rg3 was an elite passer he'd probably still be playing rather than washed out of the league in his mid 20's, the knee thing was just a convenient excuse.

So far jayden doesn't seem to suffer from any of the mental flaws that rg3 did.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Well don't look at TheRinger's QB rankings. last year I think they had Daniels as the 3rd best rookie QB. This year he's behind Dak Prescott and Geno Smith. They also claim he's a 1 read QB. I seriously don't know how that guy has a job every year despite such low quality content.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I wanted Maye over JD bad only because of how frail JD looked. In one of JD's highlights films, he was being absolutely pummeled, and I wanted no part of that again after going through something similar with RG3.

I'm sure glad that AP is making our picks instead of me.