Jayden Daniels
Jayden Daniels is an American professional football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League. Daniels played three seasons of college football for the Sun Devils football|Arizona State Sun Devils]. He played two more with the Tigers football|LSU Tigers], winning the Heisman Trophy in 2023 after leading the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in total yards and setting its single-season passer rating record.
Daniels was selected by the Commanders second overall NFL draft picks|second overall] in the 2024 NFL draft. He set several rookie records while leading the Commanders to their most wins in a season and first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors. A walk-off touchdown pass thrown by Daniels during the final seconds of a game, known as the Hail Maryland, was also named the season's Moment of the Year. His second season was marred by injury, with him missing the majority of the season.
Early life
Daniels was born in Fontana, California, on December 18, 2000, and raised in nearby San Bernardino. Daniels began playing flag football as a cornerback at age five and Pop Warner tackle football at age seven, where he moved to quarterback. He also ran track and played basketball and soccer as a youth before starting his freshman year at Cajon High School in 2015. Daniels initially needed a medical note to play due to being considered undersized by the team's coach at. He started on Cajon's varsity team as a freshman and led the team to the 2015 CIF Southern Section Inland Division semifinals.Daniels broke the little finger of his right hand attempting to recover a fumble in the first game of his 2016 sophomore season but played the rest of the season. He set a state record in 2017 with over 6,400 total yards in his junior season, leading Cajon to a Citrus Belt League championship and an appearance in the Division 2-AA state finals. He led Cajon to another CBL championship and an appearance in the CIF-SS Division 3 championship as a senior in 2018. He was the men's recipient of the Ken Hubbs Award, given annually the top high school athletes in the San Bernardino area.
Daniels played 53 games at Cajon and set CIF-SS records with 210 touchdowns and over 17,600 total yards. He also participated in hurdling and the 100-meters, 200-meters, 400-meters, and 4 × 100-meters relay sprints at the school. He participated in the 2018 Elite 11 quarterback skills competition, sitting out of the finals due to a practice injury, and threw the game-winning touchdown in the 2019 Under Armour High School All-America Game. Daniels was ranked a four-star prospect and the top dual-threat quarterback of his class by college recruiting website 247Sports and received 25 college football scholarship offers before choosing the Sun Devils of Arizona State University in December 2018. He graduated from Cajon and enrolled at ASU in January 2019.
College career
Arizona State (2019–2021)
Daniels was named the starter for the Sun Devils' 2019 season after winning a quarterback competition against Joey Yellen in the offseason. He was the first Sun Devils freshman quarterback to start opening week. He earned Pac-12 Conference offensive player of the week honors for week 13 in a 31–28 upset win over the No. 6 ranked Oregon Ducks after passing for 408 yards and three touchdowns, including an 81-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk with under four minutes remaining. He was named the most valuable player of the 2019 Sun Bowl in a win over the Florida State Seminoles. Daniels set the Sun Devils' freshman passing yards record and was named to ESPN's freshman All-American team.In the 2020 season, Daniels and the Sun Devils played only four games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He earned offensive player of the week honors against UCLA in week 5 of the 2021 season with two touchdown passes to Ricky Pearsall of over 50 yards. He led the Pac-12 in completion percentage for the season and guided the team to a record and an appearance in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl. After the season, several of the team's coaches resigned or were fired following an NCAA investigation into COVID guideline violations that prohibited hosting recruits and off-campus travel for team staff; Daniels' mother Regina was also implicated in helping pay for flight tickets. Daniels entered the NCAA transfer portal in February 2022.
LSU (2022–2023)
Daniels transferred to Louisiana State University in March 2022 to play for the Tigers. He competed with Garrett Nussmeier and Myles Brennan in camp and was named the starter for the 2022 season. In October, Daniels threw two touchdowns and ran for over 100 yards and three touchdowns in a win against No. 7 ranked Ole Miss, giving the Rebels their first loss of the season and earning Southeastern Conference offensive player of the week honors. Daniels earned another player of the week honor against the No. 6 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide the following game after running for a 25-yard touchdown with a two-point conversion pass in overtime to win 32–31. He led the Tigers to a regular season record and an appearance in the 2022 SEC Championship Game against the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Daniels, playing on a sprained ankle, left the game after being sacked by Jalen Carter late in the second quarter. He returned for the 2023 Citrus Bowl against the Purdue Boilermakers and caught a touchdown pass thrown by wide receiver Malik Nabers in a 63–7 win. Daniels was named a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and was voted the team's most valuable player after accounting for 28 touchdowns and nearly 3,800 total yards.Daniels was named one of the team captains prior to the 2023 season. In Week 3 and 4, he earned SEC offensive player of the week honors after scoring four total touchdowns each against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Arkansas Razorbacks. Daniels earned another player of the week honor two weeks later with four total touchdowns against the Missouri Tigers. He sustained a concussion from a hit by Dallas Turner in a week 9 game against No. 8 ranked Alabama and left the game. Daniels returned the following week against the Florida Gators and became the first player in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to have 350 passing and 200 rushing yards in a game. He tied an SEC record a week later against the Georgia State Panthers with eight total touchdowns. For the season, Daniels threw for 40 touchdowns and rushed for 10, led the NCAA with nearly 5,000 List of NCAA major [college football yearly total offense leaders#Total offense leaders|total yards], and set the FBS single-season passer rating record. His performance earned him the 2023 Heisman Trophy and Walter Camp Award among other college football player of the year awards; he was the third LSU player to win the Heisman after Billy Cannon in 1959 and Joe Burrow in 2019. He also won the Davey O'Brien, Manning, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards, earned Consensus All-American and All-SEC honors, and was named the SEC's offensive player and male athlete of the year. Daniels sat out of the ReliaQuest Bowl in January to prepare for the NFL draft. He finished his college career with 16,000 total yards in 55 games, ranking top ten in FBS history.
Professional career
Washington Commanders (2024–present)
2024 season
Daniels was selected second overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft. He was the second of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tying the 1983 draft for the most in NFL history. In the offseason, Daniels and former LSU teammate Malik Nabers received guidance from the league on its gambling policy for proposing a friendly bet on which of the two would earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He acquired uniform number 5 in a non-monetary arrangement with Tress Way, who had worn it with the team since 2014. Daniels signed his four-year rookie contract, worth million fully guaranteed, on June 14, 2024. He was named the Commanders' starting quarterback by the end of training camp.Daniels scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut in a loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; his first win occurred the following week against the New York Giants. In a week 3 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, he earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring three touchdowns and setting the NFL rookie completion percentage record. He was later named the Offensive Rookie of the Month for September after completing the highest percentage of passes over a four-game span in NFL history. Daniels suffered a rib fracture against the Carolina Panthers in October after two defenders landed on him at the end of a 46-yard run in the first quarter; he was later ruled out for the rest of the game. He returned the following week against the Chicago Bears and threw a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown as time expired to wide receiver Noah Brown to win 18–15. The play, dubbed the Hail Maryland, was later named the Moment of the Year at the 14th NFL Honors award ceremony. In December he became the sixth rookie in NFL history to throw five touchdowns in a game, doing so in a 36–33 comeback win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Daniels finished the regular season having the most points per game and highest completion percentage by a rookie in NFL history, additionally setting the NFL rookie quarterback rushing yards record and the Commanders rookie passing yards record. He also threw a rookie-record 12 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter or overtime. Five of those touchdowns occurred within the final 30 seconds, the most by any player since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The Commanders finished with a regular season record of, their best since 1991, and entered the 2024–25 playoffs as a sixth-seed Wild Card. The team broke their 19-year postseason win drought with road victories over the third-seeded Buccaneers and first-seeded Detroit Lions before losing to the eventual Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, with Daniels recording the most passing yards, rushing yards, highest passer rating, and highest completion percentage by a rookie quarterback in playoff history. He was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowl reserve while garnering some votes for the Most Valuable Player award, with his season regarded by sportswriters and other NFL players as among the greatest by a rookie in league history. Daniels ranked 21st on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025, a seasonal list voted on by NFL players.
2025 season
After a season-opening win over the New York Giants, Daniels suffered a left knee sprain in a week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers that kept him out of subsequent games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Atlanta Falcons. He returned in week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers before suffering a right hamstring strain against the Dallas Cowboys in week 7, leading him to miss the following game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Daniels returned against the Seattle Seahawks in week 9 before suffering a dislocated left elbow on a sack late in the game. The injury was not considered season-ending. The coaching decision to keep playing Daniels down 38–7 against the Seahawks late in the fourth quarter, in which he had already taken several hits, faced criticism. Daniels returned against the Minnesota Vikings in week 14 but left in the second half after throwing an interception and landing on his elbow. He was later ruled out for the remainder of the season, missing ten games in total. The season drew comparisons to former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III, another second overall pick who had his career stunted by injuries after a promising 2012 rookie season.Player profile
Regarded as a dual-threat quarterback, Daniels is noted for having the combination of a drop-back passer's field awareness and accuracy with the speed and elusiveness to evade defenders on scrambles and keeper runs. His calm demeanor and composure in games, particularly in late-game and critical situations, are also regarded as strengths. Daniels' physique is described as "lanky" at tall and around. He cites basketball player Kobe Bryant and football players Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, and Reggie Bush as athletic inspirations, choosing 5 as his uniform number after McNabb and Bush. He uses virtual reality as part of his training with software designed for VR headsets by the German company Cognilize, allowing for custom formations and plays to be used and opposing players, teams, and their stadiums to be represented. He began the practice at LSU in 2023 and continued to use the technology in the NFL, often using it at higher speeds. Daniels warms up before games with a basketball. He learned the routine from childhood friend and fellow NFL quarterback C. J. Stroud and cites it as helpful preparation with footballs feeling smaller and lighter afterwards.Personal life
Daniels was born to Javon "Jay" Daniels, a college football cornerback for the Washington Huskies and Iowa State Cyclones in the late 1990s, and Regina Jackson, who became a sports agent in 2024 and acts as his business manager. He has an older sister named Bianca. Daniels' paternal grandparents died of COVID-19 in early 2021. His maternal great-grandmother was Japanese, making Daniels the first starting NFL quarterback with Japanese ancestry since Arthur Matsu in 1928. He is Christian and is open about his faith. He earned a degree in business communications from Arizona State in December 2021 and pursued a Master of Liberal Arts degree at LSU. Daniels was presented with a key to the city by San Bernardino mayor Helen Tran on January 20, 2024, who declared the day "Jayden Daniels Day" and dedicated Cajon High School's football stadium after him.Daniels had name, image, and likeness deals in college with Raising Cane's, Powerade, Beats by Dre, and Urban Outfitters. He was featured on The Money Game: LSU, a six-part NIL-focused docuseries by Prime Video that followed him, Angel Reese, Flau'jae Johnson, Livvy Dunne, Alia Armstrong, and Trace Young through LSU's 2023–24 sports season. The series was nominated for Outstanding Documentary Series at the 46th Sports Emmy Awards. Daniels was featured in the 2025 launch advertisement for the Hyperboot recovery shoe. Rookie trading cards of Daniels are sought by collectors, with his cards accounting for more total gradings in 2025 than any other athlete. Daniels threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game in June 2024. He presented the Best Play Award alongside Dunne and rapper Lil Wayne to Lamar Jackson at the 2024 ESPYs the following month; Daniels also accepted the Best College Athlete, Men's Sports award at the event.
Daniels attended Fanatics Fest in June 2025, speaking at the QB Playbook guest panel with NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Dan Marino and the Command the Room panel with Josh Harris. He also finished 40th in the inaugural Fanatics Games, a tournament of eight skill games held at the event between 100 professional athletes, celebrities, and fans for million. Daniels will participate in the inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic tournament at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia in March 2026. The three-team event will consist of several other NFL players, of which he will serve as a captain of along with Tom Brady and another unannounced quarterback.