One of the big weapons in the arsenal of Washington Commanders' quarterback Jayden Daniels was his ability to run and pick up valuable yards.
Part of what makes Jayden so tough to stop is that he is equally adept at throwing the football as he is at running it, and we saw that in the early stages of the season.
Rushing totals of 88, 47, 44, 82, 50, and 52 have seen Daniels be a serious threat on the ground. However the last two weeks, Jayden hasn't taken off as much. In fact, combined he has just 40 rushing yards.
That does seem a little odd for a player who was so dynamic to begin the season, but head coach Dan Quinn has revealed why Daniels has been running less over the last fortnight.
"Some of it is circumstantial where it was by design early on where maybe less hits would be good," Quinn said. "But past that, we're kind of back into regular mode of how to operate [the offense] and going through that. So I would say not circumstantial anymore, but there was less last week. Also, tip our hat to Pittsburgh, I thought they did a really good job too, they've got a good defense all three levels, and so I think that was a factor as well."
So part of it could be that the Commanders want to see Daniels be more comfortable in the pocket and develop that part of his game, plus the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense is one of the best in football, too.
The other thread to pull is that given his slender frame, the chance for injury is high, and with his rib injury a perfect example of how Jayden's strength could become a big weakness, maybe the coaching staff is now a little gun shy about dialing up designed runs for the rookie quarterback.
In truth, it is probably a little from column A and a little from column B, with the Commanders torn between allowing Daniels to exercise a part of his game that is nearly impossible to stop and developing his skills as a pocket passer.
But given that his rushing totals have been lower over the last two games, the threat of Daniels taking off for a big gain still remains, and perhaps the "threat" of Jayden running could be just as beneficial as him actually taking off on designed runs.
