Jayden Daniels is never rattled.
From his first preseason snap to leading the Washington Commanders to their first postseason win since the 2005 season, the rookie quarterback has been unflappable. Whether it's simply getting Washington into the right play, making a defender miss in space, or squeezing a ball to Terry McLaurin in tight coverage, Daniels makes everything appear easy.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn said Daniels' persona has a calming effect on the entire operation. They aren't thinking he might deliver. They know it.
"Jayden has such poise in these winning time moments and that is contagious as well," Quinn said Monday, via the team's official transcript. "…We were talking earlier with one of the coaches, he has such poise and one of my friends that I coached with in the nineties at Hofstra was [former NCAA basketball national champion head coach] Jay Wright. It made me think of the championship game between Villanova and UNC. And if you watch, there's a clip of Jay right before the three-point shot goes off, he says 'bang,' turns and walks to shake one of the guy's hands.
"And Jayden has poise in these moments where he doesn't go wild after or lose his cool. He just has real poise in [those] spots and it's the same whether it went well or didn't and that's really hard to do. And so having poise in those moments, that's a really big thing because the other players see it and feel it and they have it in those moments as well. We practice it a lot, but it looks like we practice these moments a lot and Jayden in those spaces, he is just very much, bang, onto the next one and going and that's a really cool quality to have."
Daniels' quality comes in both talent and leadership. He never gets too high or too low. He's a Jedi on the field, calculating and efficient.
Quinn said on Monday that Daniels gets most emotional when teammates make big plays. He said the most emotion the rookie QB displayed this season was when backup Marcus Mariota threw the game-winning touchdown in Week 18 against Dallas. When his hands are on the wheel, the rookie remains even keel.
"Where he's the one in charge, he's iced up man, he ain't letting you into that," Quinn said, chuckling. "Inside the lens of that helmet, he's a killer. So, the most emotional I've seen him is his joy for Marcus into that spot to let that emotion and happiness out for a guy that means a lot to him."
Daniels led the Commanders to a wild-card win on Sunday. The next challenge: Knocking off the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions on Saturday night. Daniels will look to become the second rookie QB to defeat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, joining Baltimore's Joe Flacco (defeated Tennessee in 2008 in the Divisional Round).
Only three rookie quarterbacks have won multiple playoff games since 1950. Only two rookie QBs have won multiple road playoff games -- Mark Sanchez (2009 with NYJ) and Flacco (2008 with BAL). Rookie QBs are 5-7 in the Divisional Round since 1950 (1-4 since 2010).
