In a dazzling first NFL season, Jayden Daniels won a lot.
For starters, he led the Washington Commanders to a 12-5 record and two road playoff wins. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year. And now he's won not only respect from the league's defensive players, but perhaps the highest compliment possible for a quarterback.
New Commanders' cornerback Jonathan Jones won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots playing alongside a guy named Tom Brady. And, sure enough, he sees similarities between Daniels the GOAT.
"It brings a lot of confidence. It brings a confidence to a team, to a defense," Jones said about playing with a dynamic quarterback such as Daniels or Brady. "Your goals kind of shift sometimes on defense. You'll feel like you're trying to win the game, that it has to be on you, and you'll shift to a point—there are certain teams around this league, we were that in New England for a while, Kansas City—where as the defense, your job is like, let me just get the ball back to our offense, to the quarterback, and then if they have the ball on the last drive, we know we'll win that game."
Look, Brady won seven Super Bowls. Daniels has won 14 NFL games. The comparisons are more than a bit premature.
But from his Hail Mary to beat the Chicago Bears to the last-second touchdown to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, Daniels did indeed instill a confidence into an organization that hasn't been to a Super Bowl since 1991.
"When you have a player like him," Jones said, "it just changes everyone's mindset."
Before the NFC Championship Game in January, it was Brady who compared Daniels to another pretty iconic athlete: Tiger Woods.
