Jayden

Daniels

Daniels wasn’t as flashy as he was effective in this one. He ran for just 35 yards on the ground and didn’t surpass 200 passing yards until his final pass of the game. That said, he kept the Commanders’ offense on schedule all game and found Terry McLaurin for two touchdown passes in the first half to give his team a 21-7 lead at halftime. Washington could only muster two Joey Seibert field goals in the second half, but it was enough to counter the Giants’ late comeback efforts. Daniels now has nine touchdown passes to two interceptions on the season and has the Commanders sitting on a 7-2 record heading into Week 10 against the Steelers. Daniels, as usual, will be a solid QB1 for fantasy purposes in next week’s matchup.

Daniels played through the rib injury last week without any notable issues. He threw for 328 yards plus a touchdown and toppled No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams with a hail mary for the history books. Daniels will remain a top-five fantasy quarterback for his Week 9 game against the Giants.

Unless Daniels’ practice status is downgraded, fantasy managers can expect their elite QB1 to suit up against the Giants this week. He faces a pushover defensive unit that just benched No. 1 perimeter cornerback Deonte Banks.

Daniels toughed it out in Week 8’s miracle win over the Bears, taking a handful of big hits and receiving treatment for his ribs on the sideline between drives. That he played in Week 8 very likely means he’ll be active for Week 9 against the Giants. Daniels had 226 scoreless yards in Week 2 against New York. Marcus Mariota would draw the start if Daniels can’t go.

The Commanders scored just one touchdown in this game, but it was the only one that mattered. With just two seconds left in the game and trailing by three, Daniels dropped back from his own 48-yard line in hopes of creating a miracle. After navigating the pocket for several seconds, the rookie who played all game while battling through a rib injury let it rip downfield into a pile of players, setting up a tip drill that landed in the hands of Noah Brown for a 52-yard touchdown with no time left on the clock. Daniels and the Commanders’ offense got within scoring range several times in Sunday’s win, but settled for field goals against a feisty Bears defense. It’s only natural that their only touchdown would come from nowhere close to scoring distance. It’s only been eight weeks, but Daniels is already looking like the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year. He played turnover free football and added eight carries for 52 additional yards on the ground. It goes without saying that the Commanders are riding high heading into Week 9 against the Giants, who they beat in a field goal fest earlier this year. Daniels will be a high-end QB1 in the rematch.

Daniels got in a limited practice on Friday to give himself a chance to play this week. After being declared a game-time decision by head coach Dan Quinn before the weekend, Daniels went through pre-game warmups and felt well enough to play in the high-profile matchup against the Bears and this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams. It will be interesting to see how the Commanders approach this week’s game plan with Daniels, whose rushing ability helps drive their on-field success and the success of fantasy managers. Whether or not he finishes as a QB1 this week will likely hinge on his production on the ground. Otherwise, he still profiles a high-end QB2. With Daniels active, the Commanders declared QB Jeff Driskel, S Darrick Forrest, TE Colson Yankoff, LB Dominique Hampton, and LT Brandon Coleman as inactive.

Daniels went down with the rib injury in Week 7 and did not return. He was held out of the first two practices of the week but got in some work after the media portion of Friday’s session. Daniels also took part in Saturday’s walkthrough. The rookie will need to get final clearance after pre-game warmups but is on track to suit up versus the Bears. Daniels has played so well through two months that he will remain in the QB1 ranks, even as he guts it out through the rib injury versus a shut-down Chicago defense.

The decision not to elevate an additional quarterback is of particular intrigue considering starter Jayden Daniels is listed as questionable with a rib injury. The team does have three quarterbacks on the active roster, with Daniels joined by Marcus Mariota and Jeff Driskel. Fantasy managers will have to wait until 90 minutes prior to the team’s Week 8 kickoff for a final determination on the electric rookie quarterback’s game-day status.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn said the goal is to get Daniels as many walk-through reps as you can. He’ll also go through meetings and have treatment on his rib cartilage injury. Daniels’ status for Sunday remains up in the air as he’s still listed as questionable and is certainly a game-time decision. While Daniels wasn’t spotted by beat reporters during the open portion of practice on Friday, Quinn insisted that he practiced. While participating in walk-through could be a good sign for Daniels’ availability, we won’t know if he’s playing until Washington releases its inactives 90 minutes before the game.

Daniels’ Week 8 status gets increasingly more interesting. There wasn’t a single beat reporter who reported seeing him at practice on Friday, but Quinn said Daniels did practice and that he “really pushed it today.” Quinn said Daniels worked with the team in the bubble, which is not open to media, and then went inside to work on core strength before joining the team outdoors. All of this is trending toward the team giving Daniels up until inactives are announced to see if he can play in Week 8. His return would make for an exciting matchup against Caleb Williams and the Bears, but the team could play it cautious and rest their star for at least this week.