The Jayden Daniels Tracker

[DWinzit]

If our owner tells our GM to tell our HC how to handle players then we will have Dan Snyder 2. He would be corrupting the chain of command and undermine both of their jobs neutering them. Not healthy for any organization

 

[AngryChuckT]

I still believe in this kid, but he hasn’t looked right all season regardless of injury. I was at drill today so I didn’t see 100% of his snaps but I saw the vast majority. One thing that struck me - it seemed the only time he got the ball it quickly - i.e., like last year, were TM’s targets. Everyone else he seemed to be waiting for them to get open instead of throwing to the spot.

I honestly think there is something in JD5s head. I know he has played with a revolving WR core, but I think he is so worried about making a mistake that if the target is anyone but TM (or maybe Ertz), it is paralysis by analysis.

 

[Bulldog]

If our owner tells our GM to tell our HC how to handle players then we will have Dan Snyder 2. He would be corrupting the chain of command and undermine both of their jobs neutering them. Not healthy for any organization

No, I don't agree, because in my scenario the owner asks the GM and head coach to answer the general questions I posed and then wait to hear their answers.

The owner does not tell the GM and HC to cut Jordan Magee and sign 'X' free agent.

He asks thoughtful questions about why X or Y isn't working on offense or defense and then asks about specific players and what both think of them and their future here.

At the end of the day if you hear sound, reasoned judgment with the admission that X or Y mistake has been made, then I would give both another shot in 2026.

It's when you do what Jack Kent Cooke did in 1980 with Beathard and Jack Pardee and Cooke heard from Pardee that he wanted to improve the team by trading away two #1 draft picks for veterans for the next year - that convinced Cooke that Pardee had to go because he wasn't building the team on a solid foundation.

GM and HC have to be accountable. They need to make decisions but they also need to explain their decision-making and admit when there are failures that anyone can see.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Are we still confident JD is our franchise QB?

Durability is a major concern. He has missed over half the season due to injury. Of the six games he has played, he has been injured in four of them. Can we really rely on a guy who is only available half the time and is more likely than not to get hurt whenever he takes the field, or do we think this year’s injuries will not continue to happen in the future?

Also his play is declining. He is down in almost every statistical category compared to last season, and his last two outings were bad: Against Seattle he had 153 passing yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and four sacks. Against Minnesota, he completed less than half his passes for less than 100 yards, threw an interception, lost a fumble that got called back on a penalty, and took a sack. Will he ever return to his Heisman trophy and Rookie of the Year form, or was he a one hit wonder?

I know his mom said not to compare him to RG3, but how can you not?

 

[clskinsfan]

Are we still confident JD is our franchise QB?

Durability is a major concern. He has missed over half the season due to injury. Of the six games he has played, he has been injured in four of them. Can we really rely on a guy who is only available half the time and is more likely than not to get hurt whenever he takes the field, or do we think this year’s injuries will not continue to happen in the future?

Also his play is declining. He is down in almost every statistical category compared to last season, and his last two outings were bad: Against Seattle he had 153 passing yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and four sacks. Against Minnesota, he completed less than half his passes for less than 100 yards, threw an interception, lost a fumble that got called back on a penalty, and took a sack. Will he ever return to his Heisman trophy and Rookie of the Year form, or was he a one hit wonder?

I know his mom said not to compare him to RG3, but how can you not?

Regardless we are tied to him through his rookie contract. But I do agree with you. Availability is probably the most important trait for a franchise QB to possess. He needs to learn to protect himself. Or he is going to have a short career.

 

[bowhunter]

So the 3D video game of every stadium and situation headsetty thing. Last year we were told that it and JDs fast processing were turning him into a TD droid . However now that we suck I haven't heard shite from shinola about it. I know that the headset thing was supposedly turned up to 2x speeds and (should) be able to see use even if sitting in the training room,. It was how we all saw JD have the ability and mental toughness to carry this team on his back. Now the only thing he's carrying are the voices of his fans telling him he can't play in this league without ideal conditions. Leaders lead, fighters win, but quitters always have the best excuses.

 

[DWinzit]

No, I don't agree, because in my scenario the owner asks the GM and head coach to answer the general questions I posed and then wait to hear their answers.

The owner does not tell the GM and HC to cut Jordan Magee and sign 'X' free agent.

He asks thoughtful questions about why X or Y isn't working on offense or defense and then asks about specific players and what both think of them and their future here.

At the end of the day if you hear sound, reasoned judgment with the admission that X or Y mistake has been made, then I would give both another shot in 2026.

It's when you do what Jack Kent Cooke did in 1980 with Beathard and Jack Pardee and Cooke heard from Pardee that he wanted to improve the team by trading away two #1 draft picks for veterans for the next year - that convinced Cooke that Pardee had to go because he wasn't building the team on a solid foundation.

GM and HC have to be accountable. They need to make decisions but they also need to explain their decision-making and admit when there are failures that anyone can see.

You said you would have them shut down Jayden because we were eliminated.

He was given a medical pass to play so he should have been fine. If he was not the team doctor should have shut him down.

If he is given the okay next week he should be in, he is the team leader.

I am happy our coach said Jayden could have gone in later today and he held him out. He clearly was not looking like 100% s the game progressed. He needs to be better evaluated over the week and let the medical staff as well as the coaching staff get a feel for him for next week or the week after if it decided he should be kept out next week.

Where is the line drawn before the owner in your scenario is to stop with the meddling? What if he sees Terry tweaks his knee and doesn't finish the game today. If it's still bothering him some next week but the medical staff says he is good to go do you tell the GM to tell the HC to sit him? I mean we just invested a ton in him and maybe we should shut him down so he doesn't further hurt himself?

 

[Commander PK]

Are we still confident JD is our franchise QB?

I know his mom said not to compare him to RG3, but how can you not?

I tell you now, I have said it all season, and I continue to say it…McLaurin’s hold out completely destroyed the chemistry the team had coming out of last year. The beginning of everything going south was him missing out on OTA’s and Training Camp. Add the insane number of injuries, to include his own to the equation and I think that is the biggest reason for Jayden’s apparent regression.

I think at this point durability is a definite concern for Jayden. An NFL quarterback who can’t see the field because he can’t stay off the injury list, regardless of his talent, is not a franchise quarterback. Coming out of college his build was a concern and it remains a concern. I don’t know if he’s built for the long haul physically.

 

[SkinsInSATX]

I tell you now, I have said it all season, and I continue to say it…McLaurin’s hold out completely destroyed the chemistry the team had coming out of last year. The beginning of everything going south was him missing out on OTA’s and Training Camp. Add the insane number of injuries, to include his own to the equation and I think that is the biggest reason for Jayden’s apparent regression.

I think at this point durability is a definite concern for Jayden. An NFL quarterback who can’t see the field because he can’t stay off the injury list, regardless of his talent, is not a franchise quarterback. Coming out of college his build was a concern and it remains a concern. I don’t know if he’s built for the long haul physically.

Absolutely what I believe as well and will die on this hill, as far as McLaurin is concerned!!

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I know his mom said not to compare him to RG3, but how can you not?

I came here to make this comment but was hesitant, expecting push back. But at this point how can we not see a comparison? I also agree that Terry's hold out started this entire chain of events.

This may be one of my lowest points of being a fan. We all thought the nightmare was over. Snyder and his black cloud had been removed, we have good football people making smart football decisions and we have the next great QB who will make us contenders for a decade plus. Now every bit of that is in question.

 

[CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome]

Considering he came back, generally looked bad, and couldn’t finish the game - I expect folks to be down, way down.

But the RG3 stuff to me is much more about fan trauma than it is anything relevant. Sure there are parallels, but it’s two different players. Griffin never had the football IQ or overall makeup to evolve from what he did in 2012. He took it upon himself to make the injury all about him and dictated what he was and wasn’t going to do moving forward. Jayden exhibited much more as a passer in 2024 than Griffin ever did. Jayden never exhibits the negative traits that were a big part of Griffin’s downfall.

This season stunk and you are all well within your rights to feel however you want to feel about it. I just think it’s two different players struggling for much different reasons.

 

[burgold]

Most of us who were wary of drafting Daniels saw him and feared another RGIII. Last year, Daniels proved he was smarter than RGIII in his ability to protect himself, but this year is proving he still just can't absorb the hits. I do worry that Quinn made the Shannahan mistake. Putting Daniels out there yesterday was not nearly as bad as putting a one-legged RGIII out there against the Seahawks, really it's not in the same ballpark, but it is in the same neighborhood.

Daniels was not ready to play. You could see it when he scrambled. He just couldn't quite escape as he used to. I don't know if that's his knee, his hammy, his elbow, or all of the above, but he wasn't really ready to be out there. It was fair to expect rust, but it was more than just rust.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

A lot of RGIII's failures were self inflicted. I am in no way comparing the 2 people and the reasons they may be similar are different. But there are striking similarities that are obvious.

 

[Riggo44]

Yes, I do love seeing more RGIII comparisons! They're so 1:1! Let me know when Daniels holds meetings to tell DQ and KK what plays he will or won't run, as well as do nothing in terms of film study. FFS. These are just more hot takes equivalent to Cleetus from Upper Marlboro calling into Lynell Willingham's crap show.

Daniels came off the injured list to face two of the best defenses in the league--he was not put in a position to succeed against the Vikings, who screamed to run the ball.

 

[Riggo44]

but it is in the same neighborhood.

More the same time zone.

 

[Commander PK]

A lot of RGIII's failures were self inflicted. I am in no way comparing the 2 people and the reasons they may be similar are different. But there are striking similarities that are obvious.

Well at the heart of the issue is how durable is a “running style” QB. Not very in most cases, which is why in order for Jayden’s long term NFL career to be different than RG3’s…they have to continue to develop him as a passing QB. I agree with CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome that he has more Football IQ than RG3 had and that is what they need to seize upon. Jayden is not a one trick or two trick pony.

I would also like to see him add 10 pounds of muscle in the off-season.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Yes, I do love seeing more RGIII comparisons! They're so 1:1! Let me know when Daniels holds meetings to tell DQ and KK what plays he will or won't run, as well as do nothing in terms of film study. FFS. These are just more hot takes equivalent to Cleetus from Upper Marlboro calling into Lynell Willingham's crap show.

Daniels came off the injured list to face two of the best defenses in the league--he was not put in a position to succeed against the Vikings, who screamed to run the ball.

We are finally aligned on the playcalling issues on this game. I still think there have been situational issues all season long, as I have said.

I would also argue that the Falcons game screamed run the ball - higher ranked pass D, lower ranked run D.

I'm glad we are at least in agreement on this game.

I also think that DQ is probably upset at KK. It actually doesn't matter if anyone agrees/disagrees on philosophy - when the HC and OC are in disagreement (which they have been for over a year now, in pressers, to some degree at least), I think that is a different sort of problem. We had that with RR and Scott and then RR and Eric. It's not ideal. It's part of what inspired that thread I started about how you pick coordinators as a head coach. I would think you would ideally want philosophies to match/mix nicely, or at least more than what I see here.

 

[lovemaskins]

I came here to make this comment but was hesitant, expecting push back. But at this point how can we not see a comparison? I also agree that Terry's hold out started this entire chain of events.

This may be one of my lowest points of being a fan. We all thought the nightmare was over. Snyder and his black cloud had been removed, we have good football people making smart football decisions and we have the next great QB who will make us contenders for a decade plus. Now every bit of that is in question.

Which is why many folks were arguing to pay Terry, me included. And I’m not going back to argue it again, but I thought Adam made a bunch of questionable offseason moves concerning the offense.

Hopefully, he rethinks his strategy this off-season and completely retools the personnel. We lack explosiveness on offense. We need some playmakers sans Terry. Too easy to play defense against this offense.

 

[lovemaskins]

We are finally aligned on the playcalling issues on this game. I still think there have been situational issues all season long, as I have said.

I would also argue that the Falcons game screamed run the ball - higher ranked pass D, lower ranked run D.

I'm glad we are at least in agreement on this game.

I also think that DQ is probably upset at KK. It actually doesn't matter if anyone agrees/disagrees on philosophy - when the HC and OC are in disagreement (which they have been for over a year now, in pressers, to some degree at least), I think that is a different sort of problem. We had that with RR and Scott and then RR and Eric. It's not ideal. It's part of what inspired that thread I started about how you pick coordinators as a head coach. I would think you would ideally want philosophies to match/mix nicely, or at least more than what I see here.

Honestly, I don’t know what our “philosophy” is. It’s not a physical offense, it’s not a play action offense, maybe it’s a spread offense with gadgets…?

Kliff doesn’t seem to set up his offense either… you know, pretend to show some “tendencies” then use them against the defense. He just seems to think his play calling is just better and we will out execute the other team.

Last year worked I think because it was new and Jayden was new and the weapons were better, but this year when he has to actually coach it and scheme it, he just isn’t. And dont get me started on the running game, not sure what the hell he’s doing… plus backs need reps to, this random switching of backs is driving me nuts..

 

[DWinzit]

Honestly, I don’t know what our “philosophy” is. It’s not a physical offense, it’s not a play action offense, maybe it’s a spread offense with gadgets…?

Kliff doesn’t seem to set up his offense either… you know, pretend to show some “tendencies” then use them against the defense. He just seems to think his play calling is just better and we will out execute the other team.

Last year worked I think because it was new and Jayden was new and the weapons were better, but this year when he has to actually coach it and scheme it, he just isn’t. And dont get me started on the running game, not sure what the hell he’s doing… plus backs need reps to, this random switching of backs is driving me nuts..

Good post. Kliff running his offense this year reminds me of when I began teaching my daughter to drive a manual transmission car.

We'd start rough with some coughs and sputters with random ugliest (gear grinding) until we got to 3rd gear. It be smooth for a bit until it came to upshifting to 4th or the need to downshift.

If we down shifted there were bucks and she would sometimes get flustered and not know how to adjust to make it run smooth again.