Last season, Jayden Daniels had arguably the greatest rookie campaign by a quarterback in NFL history.
He took over a Washington Commanders franchise that had won four games the previous year and immediately transformed it, leading his team to the NFC Championship game while accounting for upwards of 4,400 all-purpose yards and 31 touchdowns (25 passing, six rushing). He made the Pro Bowl, received NFL MVP votes, and was the near-unanimous NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
As he enters Year 2, expectations are higher for Daniels as he looks to solidify himself among the league's elite tier of signal-callers. Some already consider him the best quarterback in the NFC, and Pete Prisco of CBS Sports' rankings of the Top 100 players of 2025 backs that up.
Jayden Daniels ranked as a top-five QB in the NFL, but below some head-scratching names
Prisco has Daniels as his 33rd-best player in the NFL entering the 2025 season, which is fifth among quarterbacks and first among NFC passers. Yet the ranking and analysis also feel like a slight to him.
"[Jayden] Daniels showed as a rookie that he has star potential and should be a top-level quarterback for a long time. It's scary to think how good he can be once he learns how to really play the position."
Pete Prisco
Star potential? Once he learns how to really play the position? Was Prisco watching the same quarterback last season?
The one who delivered in key moments, who made his job look completely effortless on a routine basis? Daniels is already a star. And he certainly knows how to play his position at an expert level.
Prisco also has quite a few players listed above Daniels who shouldn't be, most notably another 2024 first-year standout in Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers at No. 22. The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up is a great player, but he hasn't made the same franchise-changing impact on his team that the new face of Commanders football has. It feels like these two rankings should be reversed.
A pair of additional Commanders also appeared on the list much further down. Terry McLaurin landed at No. 81 and Bobby Wagner at No. 88. Coming off a second-team All-Pro season with 13 receiving touchdowns, this seems exceptionally low for the Ohio State product.
As for Daniels, it does go to show that for as historic as he was last season, there remains room for even further improvement. Next year, he should rise into the teens if not the top 10.
