JUNKIES: Are we still too early in a sample size to really evaluate Jayden Daniels?

The Commanders were 7-2 at this time last week, but two losses to fellow seven win teams in five days has them 7-4 ahead of their mini-bye and a pre-Thanksgiving weekend showdown with Dallas.

Here's the thing with that, though: Week 1 in Tampa was what it was, and the 4-6 Bucs could easily be 6-4 or better if only for a couple breaks – but the Commanders' other three losses are to now 8-2 Philly and two teams that enter a game against each other this weekend at 7-2 (Steelers) and 7-3 (Ravens).

So where are we on this team? Are we all sizzle and an average steak, and the sizzle is dying?

"I think it's only fair, EB, that every week for the last six weeks, early in the show, you make a point of singling out Drab and asking him a question," JP Flaim said, referring to Mr. Bickel's weekly battle with Drab about whether Jayden Daniels is elite or not.

"He slipped up already today when he said 'I think Jayden will be elite,' so he's already showing shades of doubt," Drab replied, with EB chiming in that he thinks Jayden is elite now but has had two off games. "I think Jayden can be really good and he is good right now, but I just haven't seen those elite traits. I'm not off Jayden because he's had a couple down games, but there was a lot of luck that went his way early, and I haven't seen what I saw the last two games."

That's the thing: he's a rookie, so this is still a sample size of now 11 games, more than half of which have been against lesser teams than the surprising Commanders.

"Isn't it a small sample size to already call him elite?" JP asked. "He has shown signs, and EB likes to say he makes all the throws, but he's shown signs that he can be a really good passer in the league, and obviously, he has elite speed, But ultimately, you need to see way more than just nine or 10 games, and if you look at the last four games, you can argue he's been hurt, but he's only completing 59 percent of his passes and he only has four touchdown passes. And for the year, he's pretty pedestrian with touchdowns through 11 games. So, I think he has special traits, but it remains to be seen if EB is proven right that he may a Hall of Famer or generational talent…but he also could be Justin Fields. Maybe everybody was over their skis when they crowned him already."

"He's already a better passer than Justin Fields will ever be in the NFL," Cakes replied, "and the low touchdown total doesn't concern me yet. If he does that for three seasons, only throwing for 15 or 18 and adding some rushing, I would be, but they're gonna add extra pieces. They're gonna add better weaponry than Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey, who you can't rely on as your No. 2 wideout. His numbers will get better."

That's where Drab and EB jumped in again to continue their tete-a-tete.

"It's not so much the touchdowns, it's that you're starting to see things like EB was talking about earlier, he's throwing off his back foot," Drab said. "His fundamentals are looking shaky now that he's playing better teams and he's getting pressure; he's trying to bail out of the pocket and he's not in there going through his progressions and taking shots downfield."

"But I think those are correctable," EB said, "and the other thing that makes him special beyond his physical gifts is he puts in the work.
A lot of guys don't, and don't have that skill set, either."

Listen to the whole group convo on Jayden's status above!