Ron Jaworski was an enemy for much of his NFL career, as he spent 10 of his 17 NFL seasons in Philadelphia and four before that with the Rams – but he knows a thing or two or three about being a successful, Super Bowl-bound QB and what a good offense looks like.
And he knows a thing or two about Washington building that right now, even as he says it’s ‘doom and gloom’ where he is in Philly after the Eagles’ loss.
“There’s gotta be great excitement in the nation’s capital after another outstanding performance by the Commanders…and I’m blown away (by Jayden Daniels),” Jaws told BMitch & Finlay. “I loved him coming out and thought he was gonna be an outstanding NFL quarterback – I had him as my No. 1 guy with Penix and Williams at two and three. I got a little different philosophy on the quarterback position maybe because I'm old school, and I like the way Andy Reid brought in Patrick Mahomes and had him sit behind Alex Smith for a year and learn the game, and that’s the way I like to see it done – but obviously, Dan Quinn saw that he's got a quarterback that knows what he's doing and could handle the pressure of the NFL. When you play at LSU and Arizona State, you’re used to everyone being on top of you and you know the weight that's on your shoulders, and he's handled it very well.”
What Jaws loved about Daniels is what we’re seeing in reality from a man who owns the best completion percentage ever for a quarterback in his first four starts.
“What I liked was the fact that he got rid of the ball quickly, and he has a very live, accurate arm. His accuracy has been unprecedented by NFL statistics right now, and Washington saw something very special in him,” Jaws said. “His accuracy is uncanny. It’s only been four games, but I played with Randall Cunningham for three years here in Philadelphia, and Randall had that quick burst as I call it out of the pocket, that first step just got away from all the trouble. I see that right now, and that's what you got to have. Get away from the pressure quickly and then you get the space and you can make plays either with your legs or your arm. Daniels is doing a great job of doing that.”
And a great job of solidifying a three decade-long pain point.
“Washington has always had a solid team but lacked a quarterback, which is the catalyst for success, and now you get that quarterback position taken care of, so you can see the confidence,” Jaws said. “I was watching the highlights this morning, and you can just see the confidence that the Commanders have right now. There’s excitement and they're having fun playing football, and that just breeds success.”
As JP noted, the strong running game is also helping, both with the backs and the offensive line, and you can credit Kliff Kingsbury for building an offense that is playing to his players’ strengths.
“I was lucky enough to play 17 years in the NFL for coaches that won close to 1,000 games, and every coach who has had success always had balance. You don't want to be one dimension in this game,” Jaws said. “I applaud the ability to run the football Washington has right now, and I think (Kingsbury) is a brilliant offensive mind. He played the position so he understands from that perspective as well as a design factor. He didn't have great success as a head coach, and there are some guys like that who can't handle the whole ball of wax that it takes in the NFL, but you give them an offense or a defense to coach that up and they can do it. I think Kingsbury is one of those guys; he has a brilliant mind, he's a designer, but he's also fundamentally sound and safe in what he does, and I think it’s working for Jayden. You see them adding and adding week after week, and there seems to have really good chemistry between the two and that's very important.”