Jayden Daniels is bigger.
And - in a warning shot fired to the rest of the NFL from his coach - Jayden Daniels is better.
Daniels burst onto the scene in his rookie season, making a compelling claim as one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. The Washington Commanders' young star not only brought the long-dormant club back to the postseason but also ended a decades-long NFC Championship Game drought.
His rookie season surpassed expectation and frankly measures up with the best such campaigns in the history of the league. Now, Daniels must ensure that level of performance carries over through the coming years.
There is no doubt he is taking all steps necessary to make sure he operates at optimum levels throughout the coming season. Daniels has spent extra time watching film to absorb more knowledge and has apparently translated that work ethic into the weight room.
The team posted a series of pictures of several different players at OTAs to their social media this week, featuring Daniels in the upload. Washington's franchise centerpiece has noticeably gained some definition that was not present a year ago.
He's not likely destined to be a big, thick guy; he's presently listed at 6-4 and 210.
But he does seem destined to be a better QB.
Last year, Daniels threw for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and the No. 2 overall pick added 891 yards and six more TDs on the ground.
Does it get better than that?
"He’s absolutely as focused and relentless as you could about getting better,'' coach Dan Quinn said. "And so that’s why I said for us around here, man, we appreciate that and there’s a lot of things that he and the rest of us are really digging in hard on to say, all right, can we get this better? And if he does that, I do that, others do that … there’s a lot of space we can get better at."
The Commanders are "going for it'' ... the phrase used by Quinn to launch that warning shot at Washington's rivals.
Said Quinn: "You can sense when people are going for it, and you know, he’s certainly is one that is."
