Of all the players Troy Aikman spoke with this 2024 season, he volunteered that Washington’s Jayden Daniels was the most impressive.
Appearing as a guest on the Ryen Rusillo podcast on February 7, Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl champion and HOF quarterback, told of how very early in the season he realized Washington’s quarterback was great.
“Coaches, in general, give you a lot of coach-speak,” began Aikman. “The guy who stands out this year, as far as a player goes, that was the most impressive that I spoke with was Jayden Daniels; he was amazing.”
“We had him Week 3. The first two games there were a number of things you could see he is going to have be better in these areas. Then we visited with him and I had never talked with him. I had never heard him interviewed, and I had just watched him on film his first two games as a pro. I was blown away.”
“He was really smart, bright eyed, and you could tell he was really well-raised. As soon as we started talking with him, there was this energy he exuded. You said to yourself, ‘This guy has it, whatever that ‘it’ is.’”
“We finished and I said to Joe (TV broadcasting partner Joe Buck), ‘This guy is amazing’. He (Daniels) had only played two games. He was up and down, not so great. But I’ll be shocked if we are not talking about Jayden Daniels like we talked about him this year, every year of his NFL career. I think he is phenomenal.”
Daniels went on to have an amazing rookie season, passing for 3,568 yards with 25 passing touchdowns to 9 interceptions. He completed 69 percent of his passes, averaging 7.4 yards per attempt. If that wasn’t enough, Daniels also rushed for 891 yards for six touchdowns, averaging 6.0 yards per rushing attempt. He was understandably voted NFL Rookie of the Year.