Jake Delhomme tells BMitch & Finlay Jayden Daniels is special, and it was 'tough' watching Commanders pound Carolina
Jake Delhomme is a ragin’ Cajun like our guy BMitch, and also like Brian, Jake is loving what he’s seeing from LSU’s own Jayden Daniels so far this season…even if yesterday came at the expense of his beloved Panthers.
“It was tough, man; the organization means a great deal to me. I started doing the radio in 2019, and I tell people I bleed Carolina blue – and we've been doing a lot of bleeding the last few years,” Delhomme said. “It’s been tough, and kind of going into this season, I was being realistic thinking we can get five or six wins, because we have some good pieces but it was going to be difficult, especially defensively; we’re so depleted in our front seven that it's almost like a make it-take it situation with us offensively where we’ve got to score. And I think that’s what we're gonna deal with the rest of the year until we maybe get a body or two back on defense. It's a tough situation right now.”
Bryce Young struggling and eventually being benched hasn’t helped, especially seeing how CJ Stroud has invigorated Houston, but the Panthers have to play the cards they’re dealt. Unfortunately, even WITHOUT Daniels for most of the game, the Commanders were drawing full houses and flushes against Carolina’s nothing – and Washington’s defense has a lot to do with it.
“I definitely was surprised yesterday; I thought with Jonathan Allen being down, we could have ran the ball a little more effectively to keep Jayden Daniels on the sideline,” Delhomme said. “That’s the game plan to keep him off the field because he’s so dangerous, and it looked that way the first drive when we were moving it, but the screen pass gets returned and it just went downhill from there. It was one of those games, and I hate to say it, but it happens in the NFL where you gotta flush that one quick and get ready to go, because it doesn’t get any easier.”
And while he only got to see Daniels for one series yesterday, Delhomme is impressed with Jayden’s first seven games.
“When somebody makes SEC defenses look slow, which is what he did last year, it has to make you take notice, and when you look at his progression, how he took his fame to another level as a senior, you knew he was gonna give people fits in the NFL,” Delhomme said. “In watching some of the film for yesterday’s game, you’re watching more progression; his running is off the charts, but you're watching a progression of him throwing. He’s so talented with his legs, he’s gonna be smarter with the football, and that’s a credit to him, but the more and more you see him it seems like the game seems slow to him. To watch that first play yesterday, it was so smooth it was like he was tiptoeing through the forest! He’s so fun to watch, and I have friends close to LSU and the Commanders who rave about him as a rock star – it certainly looks like Washington has hit a home run.”
Take a listen to Delhomme’s entire visit above, which includes his thoughts on Jayden’s injury leave Sunday (before we knew specifics), whether it should preclude Jayden from using his legs, and more!
