kindee1688 Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will be better than his rookie season in his second professional season, according to veteran running back Austin Eckler.

Washington Commanders running back Austin Eckler is confident Jayden Daniels will be even better in 2025 after the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft impressed during his rookie season, NFL Network reports. kindee1688

“He’s definitely exceeded expectations,” Eckler said. “I think that’s a good thing. It’s not that I have low expectations of him, but you never know what’s going to happen.” 

“So I think for quarterbacks coming in, and I’ve been around long enough to know how much work they’ve got to do, there’s a lot of things they’ve got to adjust to. There’s a lot, especially learning a new scheme and going into a new organization and you’re the No. 2 pick with a lot of expectations. It’s like, ‘Yeah, I expect you to play well.’ Now, to go out and have an MVP season and you’re competing in those conversations, you don’t typically get that from players.” 

Daniels was sensational, throwing for 3,568 yards and rushing for 894 yards, becoming the first rookie to pass the 3,500-yard threshold and 800-yard rushing mark, as he led the Commanders to a 12-5 record, their first winning season since 2015 and their first appearance in the NFL Championship Game since 1991. 

“I think this year will see even more growth. It’s great because we’re at the same point with a lot of players coming back,” Eckler added. 

‘He set a lot of records last year. What I saw with him this year is we have the same offensive coordinator, so combining that with what we have now as we go through the offseason, Jayden has nailed it. He’s taken the rookie mistakes and learned the game plan, and slowed down the rhythm. ‘

‘He was getting the team ready, we had some new guys come in and he said, ‘Deebo (Samuel), you’re not here, you’re over there. ‘ When you start to see him run things out there, you can tell there’s growth. He’s getting more comfortable and that’s allowing him to play quicker mentally and make better decisions. So I think there’s going to be more growth this year.

‘It will be great because we are in the same place as the team and we have a lot of players coming back. We still have a lot of playmakers. We still have to pay Terry (McLaurin). We look like we have a big force there.’ ( kindee1688 )