A lot of Washington Commanders’ fans were concerned when general manager Adam Peters made no effort to retain starting safety Kamren Curl after the 2024 season. He signed Jeremy Chinn to step into the role, and the defensive back responded with a strong bounce-back year.
Then, Peters repeated the process.
He allowed Chinn to leave for the Las Vegas Raiders with little fuss, and quickly scooped up veteran Will Harris from the New Orleans Saints. He is first in line to man the starting role. He would pair with rising star Quan Martin to give Washington a solid tandem at the back end of the defense.
But Harris will not go unchallenged.
With little fanfare, Percy Butler has turned into a very respectable fill-in for whoever has been starting over the past few seasons. He can play either safety role and has now logged more than 1,000 snaps on defense since 2023. Veteran Jeremy Reaves and second-year uber-athlete Tyler Owens are special-teams stars who are eager for a chance to prove what they can do on defense.
Then there is Robert McDaniel, the undrafted free agent who has the physical tools to compete with any of them.
McDaniel is looking to replicate what Owens did last season and make the roster as an undrafted free agent. Does he have a chance?
Robert McDaniel has a chance to shake up Commanders' safety dynamic at training camp
He is not the same pure athlete as Owens. Then again, few players in the NFL can match his blend of size, speed, and power. McDaniel comes close.
Along those same lines, McDaniel is not quite as physically imposing as Chinn, who has linebacker size in a safety’s body. But the Jackson State product isn’t that far behind.
At 6-foot-2 and 214 pounds, McDaniel has all the size he needs to play safety in the NFL. With a 4.55-second speed in the 40-yard dash to go along with excellent vertical leap and broad jump numbers, he can also generate genuine power.
All those physical traits have earned him a chance in the pros. But every player in an NFL training camp is a plus athlete. McDaniel truly begins to grab your attention when you watch him on film.
Start with his dominating performance against Alabama State. McDaniel made nine solo tackles and 14 overall, along with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, one sack, and one forced fumble.
McDaniel simply plays bigger than he is. And as we said, he’s not a small man to begin with.
In college, McDaniel could dominate. Like Chinn, he got better as he moved closer to the line. He displayed solid coverage skills, but it was when he would play in the box or blitz that he stood out.
He has long strides and long arms. McDaniel chases down runners who dare to run wide out of the backfield and closes on quarterbacks like a hawk swooping in for the kill. Even when he is not attacking, he steps into the hole and delivers solid hits on runners.
If that wasn't enough, McDaniel is a quality tackler. This may be the single most important attribute in anyone wishing to play safety.
To crack the Commanders’ roster in 2025, McDaniel needs to prove he can still make those kinds of plays against NFL talent. Jackson State had an excellent season in 2024, finishing in the top 20 of the FCS division, but they did not take on upper-tier college opponents.
There is a wealth of quality football players at the FCS level. There was a time when Jackson State produced some of the NFL’s best players. Pro Football Hall of Famers like Walter Payton, Lem Barney, and Jackie Slater are among its alumni. Washington had its share of Tigers back in the 1970s. Names like Verlon Biggs, Speedy Duncan, and Coy Bacon all came from the program.
But that was 50 years ago. Though the Tigers still routinely place a few players into the pros, it is an uphill climb for the likes of McDaniel.
If he were about 15 pounds bigger, McDaniel would be a very intriguing linebacker prospect. The biggest deficiency in his game right now comes in pass coverage, especially if he needs to patrol large areas of the field against elite NFL receivers and the new breed of athletic tight ends.
No one will know how McDaniel stacks up against NFL players until he begins playing games. If he can show improvement in his change of direction and spatial recognition in coverage, he will pose a challenge to players like Butler and Owens to man a backup role behind Harris.
