Kliff Kingsbury on Jayden Daniels: I expect him to take a big jump in 2025

NBC Sports

28-05-2025

Quarterback Jayden Daniels had a sensational rookie season for the Commanders, helping the club reach the NFC Championship Game and winning offensive rookie of the year.
But as good as he was in his first season, Daniels still has plenty of room for growth in 2025.
Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury noted on Wednesday that Daniels is in line to make significant strides in the coming season.
'[Y]ou can see the comfort level was there this year,' Kingsbury said in his press conference, via transcript from the team. 'I mean, just watching him move around, he's not thinking as much, he's playing fast, and letting his natural gifts kind of take over, and that's what we want to see.
'So, I expect him to take a big jump.'
Kingsbury sees Daniels as a self-motivated player and as such, didn't necessarily need the quarterback to work on something specific in the offseason.
'He works extremely hard,' Kingsbury said. 'I mean, that's all he kind of thinks about is how he can get better and watches a ton of film, watches a ton of football overall. And so, that organically really takes care of itself in a way when you have a guy who wants to be that great.
'He is very highly motivated to be as good as he can be, and that's always exciting for the organization.'
Plus, it helps that Daniels is staying in the same offense with the same play-caller that he had as a rookie.
'Yeah, it's huge,' Kingsbury said of that factor. '[B]eing able to take the ownership of it and understand it inside and out, where now you're correcting people, you don't even need the coaches. And he's kind of getting to that point.'
Daniels completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a rookie. He then completed 66 percent of his throws for 822 yards with five touchdowns and one pick in three postseason games.