- Friday, April 26, 2024

Quarterback Jayden Daniels said he was “blessed’ after the Heisman Trophy winner was picked with the second selection in the NFL draft Thursday night by the Washington Commanders.

“It’s a blessing,” he said.

It better be. Typically, when it comes to the Commanders and quarterbacks picked in the first round. the word most think of is “cursed.”

But that’s before owner Josh Harris and his saviors bought the team last summer for $6 billion from the curse master, Dan Snyder.

That was a blessing, wasn’t it?

Was hiring Adam Peters as general manager a blessing as well? Or Dan Quinn as head coach?

I’m pretty sure there are only so many blessings to go around for each NFL team.

Then again, this franchise suffered a lot of curses over the last 30-plus years. It may be deserving of a few extra blessings.

Peters certainly believes he was blessed with the opportunity to draft Daniels.

“To us, he was special in every way on the field, off the field,” Peters said after the pick. “I talked to him a couple times and I told him kind of what I told you guys the other day, didn’t really watch a lot of the quarterbacks hard during the season, being with the 49ers. And then I turned on Jayden for the first time here, and I couldn’t believe it. I honestly couldn’t believe how good he was and saw him on TV, saw him on highlights and everything. But when you really study him as a quarterback, just as a quarterback, he’s really, really good. And just the way he could process, the way he could see the field go through reads, deliver on time, deliver with pressure in his face, take a hit and deliver a third-down pass and move the chains.

“He’s the best deep ball thrower we thought in the draft,” Peters said. “And that’s even before he started watching him run. And the way he runs, he just kind of, we talk about it kind of takes your soul as a defense. You know, you think you got him and then all of a sudden, he rips off a 40-yard run and this is against the SEC, this isn’t against some lower competition. This is against the best of the best. So, for all those reasons on the field and off the field. I can’t say enough about him. We did a lot of work on, on all these guys. We did a lot of work on Jayden. In terms of every single person we spoke to it was just exemplary as a person, personal character, football character, his work ethic, his football intelligence, how much he cared, his leadership, how he is as a teammate.”

Peters is excited, and there is a lot to be excited about.

Daniels will create the optimistic buzz this franchise needs in its first full season with the new owner’s fingerprints on everything. Peters sounds convinced, but then he has to be. This is why Harris and his consultant show hired him.

It’s OK to be excited and optimistic. But no one is paying any of us to be convinced. So don’t be.

There were six quarterbacks drafted in the first round Thursday night. Odds are only two of them will actually be considered worthy of the choice. You don’t have to go far for evidence of those odds, or even worse.

Peters was likely excited, optimistic, and convinced when his 49ers took Trey Lance with the third pick in the 2021 draft. They were so convinced in San Francisco that they traded three first-round picks for the chance to draft Lance. They wound up trading him to Dallas two years later for a fourth-round selection, one of four of the class of five first-round picks who are no longer with the team that was excited, optimistic, and convinced of all of them.

Just look inside the Commanders’ building for more validation.

“You know, he can drop back and throw it. Obviously, he can run the spread offense and run the zone reads, but when you have a guy that’s that athletic and you try to taper your system to run some more zone reads, you want to protect him, too. Eventually, he’s going to have to be a pocket passer, and I think he can do that. he’s got a very accurate arm, a quick release, good fundamental footwork in the pocket, so I think he’s got a chance to do just about everything in the pocket.”

That’s what Jay Gruden, who knows a little about quarterbacks, had to say — in 2015 about Marcus Mariota, the quarterback who will be will likely end up as Daniels’ backup this year.

Everyone fawned over Mariota, the second pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2015 out of Oregon. Like Daniels, he was the Heisman Trophy winner, as well as the winner of the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Manning Award, the Davey O’Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He threw for 4,454 yards with 45 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Here’s what his Tennessee teammate, receiver Harry Douglas, said about Mariota going after training camp. “When he first came here, you understood why he’s had so much success. It starts with his demeanor, and how humble he is. His future is so bright. Some people, God has just blessed like that, and he is one of those people.”

See, Mariota was blessed, too. Now he’ll be carrying a clipboard on the Commanders’ sideline for his fifth NFL team in nine years.

Daniels may be the chosen one. Certainly, watching him at LSU, there is every reason to believe he is. If he is not, it’s because of what we don’t know.

Be excited. Be optimistic. But don’t be convinced just yet. You’ve suffered a lot of pain following this football team. Have something to show for it — perspective.

• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.

• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.

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