Having All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel at his disposal already has Jayden Daniels excited about the possibilities for the Washington Commanders during the 2025 NFL season, with the second-year quarterback hoping for one thing in particular.
Daniels explained to onlookers at the recent Fanatics Fest (h/t Arye Pulli of The Sports Place), “I’m excited to throw him a little screen and hopefully on the stat sheet it says a touchdown for 80 yards and I didn’t have to do any of the work.”
It’s a reasonable ambition for Daniels and Samuel, given the latter’s renowned after-catch skills. That big-play potential is expected to take already dynamic Daniels up a level.
He was good enough to take the league by storm as a dual-threat playmaker who was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Making sure Daniels doesn’t plateau has motivated many of the moves made by the Commanders this offseason, notably the trade to acquire Samuel from the San Francisco 49ers.
He’s a potential alpha target, particularly if Commanders general manager Adam Peters can’t reach a deal with contract holdout and incumbent go-to receiver Terry McLaurin.
Deebo Samuel Can Assume Key Role for Commanders
Samuel has had his say on McLaurin’s situation, but the 29-year-old also has to deal with his own negative press. Specifically, from those who believe Samuel has looked slow and out of shape this offseason.
The Commanders obviously don’t want Samuel on the decline. They want the multi-faceted game-breaker who gashed defenses on the ground and through the air at will during his peak years with the Niners.
His production after he gets the ball in his hands has been without equal the last five years, according to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis. He noted that while “Deebo has dealt with injuries & fallen back in some aspects, he still brings the YAC: 2024: 8.3 YAC/rec, #1 of 64 2023: 8.8 YAC/rec, #1 of 61 2022: 8.8 YAC/rec, #1 of 68 2021: 10.0 YAC/rec, #1 of 67 2020: 12.1 YAC/rec, #1 of 71.”
Proving he still has the juice to maintain these numbers is the challenge facing Samuel. Fortunately for the Commanders, he offered some exciting glimpses during OTAs, like this snag from Daniels.
Playing up to expectations once the real action begins will depend on Samuel avoiding injury, something he’s struggled to do in recent years. A myriad of issues, including knee, ankle, shoulder and calf problems, have slowed the 2021 Pro Bowler.
Head coach Dan Quinn isn’t worried, though. Quinn told reporters at minicamp, including Commanders.com Senior Writer Zach Selby, “I can remember one time he just ran by somebody down the field on a deep ball and I was like, ‘Yeah, I forgot about that.’ So…it didn’t surprise me, but it was maybe [that] I missed talking about it to that space because I was easily reminded, he’s one of the fastest players on the team.”
Samuel at top speed is the perfect receiver to help Daniels maintain what made him successful as a rookie.
Jayden Daniels Can Still Follow 2024 Blueprint for Commanders
One of the things that helped Daniels get up to speed quickly at the pro level was an offensive blueprint based on him getting rid of the ball quickly. It’s why the former Heisman Trophy winner averaged 3.7 completed air yards per pass attempt, per Pro Football Reference.
The approach, expertly mapped out by offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, also relied on Daniels’ receivers turning short passes into longer gains by doing most of the work the way the QB anticipates Samuel will this season.
It’s a reasonable expectation for Samuel, who ran an average of 4.9 yards before catch per reception during his final season in San Francisco. Continuing to use Samuel in multiple ways underneath is how the Commanders create mismatches this season.
Quinn explained how on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. The coach told former Super Bowl-winning defensive end Long, “now you want to match people? Are you going to want to really put a smaller player inside when he’s into the backfield? So going in, it was an easy fit in terms of how we would feature him in some packages, whether it’s two backs or three backs or no backs and he’s a back, so like, all of those things can kind of add, just difficult matchups.”
Moving Samuel around will be key, but so will keeping him close enough to Daniels to take those quick throws and long handoffs and help his QB pad his stats.
