00:00I got this from Dave. Dave. And lots of follow-up yesterday to the Jaden Daniels conversation about quarterbacks ranked
00:10by ESPN.
00:11They've been doing the position by position. By the way, today's position group, off-ball linebackers.
00:18And guess what? There are a couple of names on that list that we will get to that I actually
00:26am a bit surprised by.
00:28But in the quarterbacks rankings that came out yesterday, Jaden Daniels was listed among the quarterbacks on the honorable mention
00:37list.
00:38Now, they spelled it out, Jeremy Fowler did from ESPN, that he actually tied for 10th vote-wise with Caleb
00:45Williams, Sam Darnold, and Jordan Love.
00:47And they kind of went to a runoff with some of the general managers that were voting on this.
00:54And they were asked to pick one of the four for the 10th spot, and Caleb Williams emerged as the
01:01winner there.
01:02Jaden Daniels ended up being listed as the second on the honorable mention list.
01:06I took that to mean, since they weren't listed alphabetically, that he was the 12th best quarterback in the league.
01:13Sam Darnold was the first honorable mention quarterback.
01:16And we had a conversation about that yesterday.
01:19Was it too high? Was it too low? Was it just right?
01:22And where would you think Jaden would be on the list next year?
01:27I got this from Dave. I got a lot of this, too.
01:29Dave wasn't the only one that thought the conversation around Jaden Daniels was a bit delusional.
01:36Dave wrote, Kevin, we, and I'm sure he's speaking about the fan base, have an inflated opinion of Jaden Daniels
01:46here in the DMV.
01:48He had one good season, and it was more lightning-in-a-bottle luck as much as it was any
01:54kind of brilliance.
01:55Last year was a monster red flag on his ability to be available.
02:00He prefers to be a run-first QB, and that means availability will be a 50-50 proposition for the
02:08rest of his career.
02:10And if his legs are taken away from him at some point, he's done.
02:14The better pick would have been Drake May because of his body type.
02:19And I'm not even a big believer in him because he takes way too many sacks.
02:23He would have been, among the others, receiving votes, for me, replaced by Bo Nix on the honorable mention list.
02:33Yeah, the honorable mention list included Darnold, then Daniels, then Love, Purdy, Mayfield, Lawrence, and Hurts.
02:41And then the last three quarterbacks mentioned as also received some votes, Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, and C.J. Stroud.
02:52So he would have had Bo Nix on the honorable mention list and Jaden on the receiving votes list,
03:00which would have put him in that 18-20 range among NFL quarterbacks.
03:09So, look, I'm not going to dispute because it's more subjective in terms of inflated opinion.
03:17I don't know that we have an inflated opinion, but I'm not going to argue that point, Dave,
03:23because I think sometimes hometowns always tend to overrate some of their players,
03:29especially their really good players in comparison to other really good players around the league.
03:36But the idea that you think he had one good season and it was more lightning-in-a-bottle luck
03:42versus any kind of brilliance is just, in my opinion, so way off.
03:50It was brilliance.
03:54Now, lightning-in-a-bottle can imply that it was a one-time thing where he was brilliant.
04:00But your implication is that it was lucky, you know, whether it was the opponents they played
04:07or some of the things that happened in some of those games like the Hail Mary, et cetera.
04:13But no, this guy was truly brilliant as a rookie.
04:19I mean, it's going to go down as the greatest rookie season in the history of the league for a
04:24QB.
04:24I mean, during the course of the 2024 rookie season, Jaden Daniels threw at a completion percentage rate of 69%,
04:34threw for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, 9 interceptions.
04:41He had a passer rating over 100, had a QBR of 67.7.
04:46And then on top of that, he rushed for 891 yards and 6 touchdowns.
04:54And as we know, you know, going through his game log in 2024, he was brilliant when the game was
05:05on the line at the end
05:06and they needed him to make plays.
05:09You know, it started in the Giant game week two.
05:12They only kicked field goals, but he made a big-time throw to Noah Brown on the final drive to
05:17set up the game-winning field goal.
05:18Then in week three, which was really kind of his coming-out party, the incredible third-and-seven touchdown pass
05:25to Terry McLaurin.
05:26That's a great catch.
05:27That's an incredible, incredible throw against zero-coverage all-out blitz.
05:34And he took a big, big shot.
05:37You know, the Baltimore game that they lost, he was so good in that game and kept them, you know,
05:44in that game and kept pulling them within one score.
05:47They just defensively couldn't stop Derrick Henry in that game.
05:51The irony of the Hail Mary game is it wasn't a bad game for him statistically, but they really were
05:58kind of fits and starts offensively.
06:00They couldn't really get into any rhythm, but still, the amount of time he created to allow the receivers to
06:09get downfield
06:10and then to be able to launch that kind of a pass was amazing.
06:14The Giant game, when he played with some sore ribs, was one of his better games of the season.
06:20I mean, that's why I always, when we go back to that, you know, period in which people think he
06:26was playing with broken ribs,
06:28and he kind of indicated that I have a hard time believing they would have put him out there if
06:32he was at any legitimate risk,
06:34especially given that they ran him a bunch the next few weeks.
06:38I mean, that Giant game, he had a 95.1 QBR.
06:42I mean, anybody that looks back and says, you know, he didn't play well during that stretch where he banged
06:47up his ribs.
06:48Really, after the Carolina game, the Chicago Hail Mary, and then the Giant game was legitimately his highest passer rating
06:57game of the year.
06:59His second highest QBR game of the year.
07:04He was outstanding in that game.
07:07You know, you go to the incredible throw that he made to Terry.
07:11They lost that Dallas game because they couldn't, you know, they couldn't cover a kick in that game.
07:18The New Orleans finish, the Philly comeback, which was, you know, probably the game of the year in terms of
07:24what he did in that game,
07:26throwing for five touchdowns, and they were multiple scores down,
07:31ended up winning that game against a team that was the best defensive team in the league.
07:36Sorry, but that's not lightning in a bottle luck.
07:39You know, they played excellent defenses down the stretch.
07:43New Orleans, Philly, Atlanta was getting much better defensively,
07:47and the performance he put on in the second half and then in overtime against Atlanta was certainly legendary.
07:54And then the postseason, I mean, come on.
07:56I mean, strapped the team to his back against Tampa and Detroit, two road playoff wins.
08:02That's just, that's delusional.
08:06And you didn't use the word delusional, Dave.
08:09Others did.
08:10But to suggest that 2024 was a lightning in a bottle luck season, as much as it was any kind
08:20of brilliance,
08:21is lack of either paying attention or any kind of legitimate football knowledge, even from a fan standpoint.
08:29Now, when you write last year was a monster red flag on his ability to be available,
08:33he prefers to be a run-first QB, and that means availability will be a 50-50 proposition for the
08:40rest of his career.
08:41I would say, yes, last year is a red flag.
08:44I don't know if it's a monster red flag.
08:46In fact, I disagree with that vehemently because of his history of being available for 52 of 54 college games
08:54and for all 20 of the games during his rookie season.
08:58And again, there's no, prior to last year, there's no real evidence that this guy is injury prone.
09:08You can look at his body all you want and say, I'm concerned about it.
09:12I'm concerned the way he plays at the NFL level and whether or not he will hold up.
09:17But there's nothing in the SEC or in his first year that would suggest that he's injury prone.
09:25Even last year, you know, not available enough.
09:28100% right.
09:29And I get those that are concerned after watching last year.
09:34It's the most recent impression, and he just wasn't available.
09:37He essentially wasn't available for 10 games in total and for 13 games pretty much, you know, in terms of
09:45start to finish availability.
09:46He just, you know, cost them with his injuries a season.
09:51When you lose a player of that ability, you're done.
09:55And that's where I would also point to and say, you know, your lightning in a bottle luck season, you
10:02know, take him off that team and look what happened to the team in 2025.
10:09But it's not crazy to be concerned about his availability.
10:12It isn't.
10:13You know, I looked at that body.
10:15It's the only thing that I actually hesitated on before the draft in 2024.
10:21I watched every single snap of his season in at LSU in 2023, every single one.
10:29And I saw the way he played and I saw the frame.
10:34And I did wonder, you know, what if he doesn't get out of bounds?
10:39What if he tries to get that extra yard on second and six in the first quarter?
10:45What will happen?
10:46But last year, we'll see.
10:49It could be a preview of things to come, but there's no history that says it'll be a preview of
10:57things to come.
10:57As far as prefers to be a run first quarterback, that's just not true.
11:01He does not prefer to be a run first quarterback.
11:04And in terms of if his legs are taken away from him at some point, he's done.
11:08No, he's an incredible thrower of the football.
11:11He has great throwing mechanics.
11:14He has great pocket presence.
11:16He throws with great anticipation.
11:19And he is super accurate.
11:22He is an excellent NFL passer.
11:26Now, would he be a different player if he didn't have his legs?
11:31Of course.
11:32Any player that relies on his legs and his athleticism for, you know, a significant part of his game would
11:39be hurt.
11:40But he wouldn't be finished.
11:42Not even close.
11:44And as far as Drake May, because of the body type, yeah, Drake May is one big, thick man.
11:49No doubt about it.
11:50He is.
11:53I would not, at this point, take Drake May over Jaden Daniels if we could go back and draft again.
12:00I just wouldn't.
12:01I like Drake May.
12:03I do.
12:03I like him a lot more than I thought I would like him coming out.
12:07Because I liked Penix Jr. second after Jaden and Caleb Williams.
12:13But I was really impressed with him, even though he was truly horrific in the postseason.
12:18But he's also a first-time playoff quarterback.
12:22I mean, some of the conversation about Jaden yesterday got a little bit crazy in the Drake May, Bo Nix,
12:30you know, versus Jaden Daniels conversations.
12:33Or Caleb Williams.
12:35None of those quarterbacks in their first playoff appearance played as well as Jaden did in his first playoff appearance.
12:41Neither one of those quarterbacks had a season last year like Jaden had in 2024.
12:47Essentially, your 2024 quarterbacks, Jaden can be judged on one season impossible to evaluate last season.
12:55But again, the injury part of it is a part of the conversation.
12:58I get that.
12:59And in terms of clutch games and the most important games, Drake May gets an F.
13:05Caleb Williams gets a B+.
13:07Jaden Daniels an A+.
13:12My question to all of you in the wake of lots of conversation yesterday,
13:18and I'm going to give you a couple of back and forths between people on social media.
13:22My question to you is, do you think we as Skins fans have an inflated opinion of Jaden Daniels, or
13:33is it spot on?
13:35And I'm not suggesting that we all have the same opinion, but I think for the majority of us, we're
13:41very optimistic.
13:42Very optimistic.
13:44We're believers that he is a franchise quarterback and borderline elite level when he is available.
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