Goldberg's Hot take: qb daniels's collegiate game won't translate to nfl success

By: Justin Goldberg

Let’s point out the obvious: Jayden Daniels is a phenomenal quarterback at the collegiate level. College defenses can’t keep up with his unreal athleticism, rocket arm, deep accuracy and precision outside the numbers. Daniels can make lots of throws on the field from a clean pocket and under pressure. 

But I was less than impressed watching his tape, especially for someone who will enter his rookie season at 24. I watched every single offensive snap of his Heisman campaign in 2023. He has the natural ability to make plays with his legs and throws with his cannon of a right arm, but there are  too many glaring weaknesses that are overshadowed by how likable he is.

​Daniels has major pocket presence issues. At 24, he should be developed at least at the college level in this aspect, but he’s not. Daniels posted a 24% pressure to sack ratio in his entire career in college and a pressure to sack ratio over 30% negating the scramble, which puts him top 3 all time, a category no quarterback wants to be part of.

Daniels takes plenty of unnecessary sacks, has poor footwork in the pocket, and panics when his first read isn’t there; he is sacked too often trying to scramble in a lane that just isn’t there. In the NFL, with a potentially worse supporting cast relative to what he had in college,  more advanced defenses, and how athletic current day pass rushers are, I expect his pocket presence to actually regress. At his age, these concerns should be negligible at worst. 

Another concern is Daniels’s ability to read a defense. In the NFL, I do not trust Daniels to take a 5-step drop, process, and deliver an accurate ball over the middle of the field with anticipation consistently. Daniels threw to his first read at LSU often because most of the time his first read was to Malik Nabers, a top draft pick, and occasionally to Brian Thomas Jr. Watching Daniels’s tape, I was far more impressed by Nabers and even Thomas Jr. as more concerning threats to defenses than Daniels.

Nabers  can create separation in a variety of ways, with any route and coming down with any catch consistently, which made Daniels’s job so much easier. Daniels struggles to process and deliver a throw when he is not on his first read. There were constant examples of him missing wide open check downs or even routes 10-12 yards down field that isn’t his first read from a clean pocket. Those plays resulted in sacks or him managing to pick up yards with his legs. In the NFL, he will be contained much better than he was in college. 

Teams will know Daniels’s tendencies to take off and run after the first read. That, combined with his poor pocket presence, panicking during progressions, sub-par footwork and mechanics in the pocket, will have defensive coordinators licking their chops when they get to play against him in the pros. 

Though his scrambling ability is impressive, he’s way too reliant on it. Great quarterback rushers in today's NFL like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts have all developed and adapted to the NFL being a pass first league and changed their running styles and making sure no pass is open before they take off –  I have not seen Daniels consistently handle this facet of the game. 

There are a number of times where Daniels has shown the ability to step up in the pocket and break structure, but instead of rolling out and extending the passing play, he just takes off and runs which may lead to highlights against worse athletes and defensive schemes in college, but it will not slide in the NFL. Had Daniels simply rolled out and tried to make a play with his arm by improvising, he would have increased the chances for more significant downfield plays.  

Even quarterbacks in his own draft class like Drake Maye and Caleb Williams at a younger age have learned the art of improvisation and execute it way more effectively than Daniels does. You’re Jayden Daniels, your arm talent is unreal, you can make any throw from anywhere … make it! 

Daniels has all the talent to be a top QB in the league; however, some issues are just too much to overlook. The issues Daniels possesses at 24 are just too concerning for me to draft him in the first round. He reminds me of Justin Fields, who was a junior at the time he was drafted with a lower breakout age. Fields still exhibits some of the same issues, including very poor pocket presence, troubles reading a defense, and relies on his legs too much. He's so talented, but those issues hold him back. 

Daniels, I believe, has the same problems. I’d be much more confident in Daniels as a first rounder if he was 2-3 years younger, but still not more confident than Maye or Williams. It’s hard for me to believe a team like the Commanders would even consider him over  Maye who is levels better than Daniels.

With all these rumors circling with the Commanders being attached to Daniels, it reads as a massive smokescreen. Mainstream media just want to create more drama for the viewership and marketing. Maye is the obvious pick at No. 2 and it is likely Washington will select him to be their QB under center in 2024. 

So far, the Commanders’ free agency moves have given me every reason to trust the new ownership and front office. Should the Commanders select Daniels over Maye with pick 2, that trust will completely diminish.