DETROIT — The Washington Commanders made official their long-rumored selection of LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, the first major domino in a first round dominated by quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive tackles.
For the Commanders, the pick was a major step in the new regime’s quest to restore the franchise to glory and end a decades-long search for stability at the game’s most important position.
For the rest of the NFL, which has known for months that the Chicago Bears would use the No. 1 pick on Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams, the Commanders’ pick set off a scramble to scoop up the remaining top signal-calling prospects.
In the next 10 picks, the New England Patriots chose North Carolina’s Drake Maye (No. 3), the Atlanta Falcons chose Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (No. 8), the Minnesota Vikings chose Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (No. 10) and the Denver Broncos chose Oregon’s Bo Nix (No. 12) — six quarterbacks in all, which tied the record for the most drafted in a first round with the 1983 class that included Hall of Famers Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly.
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The first 14 players chosen all came from the offensive side of the ball, by far the longest streak to start a draft in NFL history. The Falcons took Penix despite recently signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency, and the Bears followed their selection of Williams by getting him a weapon in Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze. Four offensive tackles — Joe Alt to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 5, JC Latham to the Tennessee Titans at No. 7, Olu Fashanu to the New York Jets at No. 10 and Taliese Fuaga to the New Orleans Saints at No. 14 — came off the board before a single defensive player was chosen.
But if some of the offensive picks were surprising, Daniels was anything but. For the 23-year-old, the night capped a meteoric rise from NFL afterthought to top pick. The dual-threat dynamo, seen as one of the most pro-ready prospects in the class, played five seasons in college because of the coronavirus pandemic and shot up draft boards during his second and final season at LSU, in which he completed 72.2 percent of his passes for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns with just four interceptions — in addition to amassing 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
“It was a surreal moment,” Daniels said of hearing his name announced. He had fulfilled the “childhood dream” he started chasing as a kid in San Bernardino, Calif., then at Cajon High School, then for three years at Arizona State before two years at LSU.
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But Daniels rejected the idea that he had suddenly taken the title of “franchise quarterback.” He stressed he had to work hard to earn it — “Nothing’s given to me, no matter how high I was drafted” — as well as build relationships with his teammates so he could lead them.
“That’s what they’re going to respect,” he said. “They’re going to respect a hard worker and someone that’s genuine to themselves.”
NFL draft experts often compared Daniels to quarterback Robert Griffin III, making it the second time in 12 years that Washington has pinned its franchise hopes on a dual-threat, Heisman Trophy-winning No. 2 pick with an exciting and explosive style of play that is dampened only by durability concerns.
Daniels, who measured 6-foot-3⅝ and weighed 210 pounds at his pro day, has an unusually tall and thin frame for a first-round quarterback. In the past 20 drafts, only three have had similar measurements: Teddy Bridgewater (2014), Alex Smith (2005) and Griffin (2012).
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Washington must hope Daniels fares better than Griffin, who lasted only four years with the team after his electric rookie season ended with a devastating knee injury.
During the draft process, speculation was rampant that Daniels wanted to go to the Raiders, whose coach, Antonio Pierce, recruited Daniels to Arizona State. At a pre-draft charity event in Detroit on Wednesday, a reporter asked Daniels whether he would like to refute those rumors.
“I’m blessed to go wherever I’m called,” Daniels answered, repeating what had essentially become his version of a campaign stump speech. “Whoever calls my phone, [when the] commissioner gets up and says my name, I’ll be blessed, and they’re going to get my all.”
Instead, the Raiders stayed at No. 13 and drafted the top tight end, Georgia’s Brock Bowers.
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Daniels also spoke at length about the Commanders’ decision to host about 20 prospects on visits at the same time, which included a group trip to the high-tech driving range Topgolf. NFL agent Ron Butler, who represents Daniels, seemed to criticize the approach on X and sparked a national debate about the effectiveness of the approach.
But Daniels, who doesn’t golf, said he shot “pretty all right” and downplayed the controversy.
“I just had fun with the other guys,” he said. “Just being able to interact with people throughout the process, obviously just go out there and have fun. So, it was cool.”
On draft day, Daniels said he woke up at 6:30 a.m. and tried to keep himself busy with an appearance on ESPN, with a breakfast event with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and by spending the down moments with his family and LSU wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., two good friends who also went in the draft’s first round.
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But the day still dragged on. In the afternoon, he dressed in a Tom Ford suit — light blue, his favorite color — and put on a watch and necklaces that glittered. Then, around 8:25 p.m., his phone rang; it was Commanders General Manager Adam Peters.
Daniels flexed and screamed in joy, then made what looked like a long walk to shake hands with Goodell.
“It felt short,” Daniel said, laughing. “I was excited!”
And then Daniels was cycling through interview after interview after interview, expressing his excitement, preaching humility, saying he couldn’t wait to work with his new teammates and get to know the DMV.
“S---, I’m ready to help the team win some football games — excuse my language,” he said. “I’m ready to go out there and live out my childhood dream.”
