There were a lot of questions about the Commanders going into Sunday’s game against the Ravens, and while they lost 30-23, a lot of those questions were answered.
Like, say, the one in Danny Kanell’s mind (among many others) about how good they actually are.
“This team is legit,” Kanell told BMitch & Finlay Monday. “I mean, they're the best team in the NFC East, so they're probably gonna win the division, and it’s going to be an interesting race for Rookie of the Year, which Jayden Daniels is probably going to win - and the conversations about him pushing for MVP weren't that outrageous. I think it was probably a long shot, but then he went toe-to-toe with the Ravens and with Lamar Jackson. I've loved everything I've heard about him and I think you don't have that type of success without that. It's not flukey.”
Today’s Misery Monday ‘didn’t feel very miserable’ to JP & Brian, and yeah, Danny gets it, especially when looking at the day Daniels had.
“I am not a believer in moral victories, a loss is still a loss, but this is for real,” Kanell said. “What impresses me about Daniels is not any statistic or any singular play, it’s his poise and his composure, because he just looks like he belongs. He looks like he's already played 60 games, not six, and that is rare. He hasn’t really had that game, which I'm sure it'll happen at some point, where you see him a little bit overwhelmed; he hasn’t looked that way once, and I hear outstanding things about his work ethic, about his mentality, and about he came in there and asked defensive guys like Bobby Wagner, ‘hey, what, what can I do to get better?’ He is an incredibly gifted young man with the right mindset. There were some question marks about him, and I think he silenced any critic that he's had without question.”
Kanell only started 30 NFL games himself, but he played for close to a decade, and admitted it took him until his final season in Denver before he had his best work going into a season – and even as it takes a couple years for a normal starting QB, Daniels looks like he was born into the system the Commanders run.
“Jayden looks really comfortable in the system, and I think where he elevates and takes the next step, which I think you'll see probably if it doesn't happen this year it’s soon down the road, is where you really start to be comfortable knowing why you're running certain plays,” Kanell said. “You can execute the plays but sometimes you don't know why, but the longer you play, you start really getting a full grasp of why you're doing things and recognizing what the opponent is doing.”
Kanell pointed out Daniels’ first-half touchdown pass as something that shows you just how special Jayden is, and he’s just not making the mental mistakes you’d expect of a rookie on a rebuilding team.
“He deserves all the praise that he's getting; you see some guys who make the same mistakes over and over and it's like head scratching, but even yesterday, the Ravens had a good game plan to contain Jayden’s rushing ability, and he still executed the system from the pocket,” Kanell said. “That, to me, is ahead of his years in knowledge, and just the ability to do that shows me a quarterback who has already matured beyond what anybody would have anticipated. I do think Kliff Kingsbury clearly deserves a ton of credit for that; he was one of the hires I was excited about, and Jayden is already handling things like a seasoned veteran.”
Take a listen to Kanell’s entire visit above!