Jayden Daniels

Drafted second overall this year, Daniels took first-team practice reps all summer and was named as Washington's Week 1 starter in mid-August. He's an outstanding athlete, but at 6-4, 210, his slim build raises durability concerns. That's about the only concern. Armed with a quick release, Daniels is accurate all over the field. Unlike others in his draft, Daniels' 72.2 completion percentage last season (7th in FBS) was not built on accuracy-inflating short passes -- his average target depth (10.2) and YPA (11.7) both led the nation. Daniels has a strong arm, though not an elite one, and is an excellent deep-ball thrower. He operates well in the pocket but can also play on the run, and it's his dual-threat ability that is intriguing both for Washington and fantasy managers (he ran for more than 2,000 yards and 21 TDs at LSU the last two years). Daniels sometimes holds the ball longer than necessary, resulting in sacks, and his passing stats in college were solid-but-unexceptional prior to his Heisman-winning 2023 campaign. The Commanders have a few experienced targets in RB Austin Ekeler, WR Terry McLaurin and TE Zach Ertz, but they lack depth at the skill positions and may need quick development form rookie TE Ben Sinnott (Round 2) and rookie WR Luke McCaffrey (Round 3). Daniels is lauded for his high football IQ and seems to fit well in offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's scheme, but even if the rookie needs time to figure out the passing game his rushing ability should create fantasy value.