Kevin Sheehan: Chris Cooley's film breakdown of Jayden Daniels ahead of NFL Draft

Many people have been asking and it is finally here: Chris Cooley – who has been right more than he has been wrong on evaluating players ahead of the NFL Draft – joined Kevin Sheehan to do a film breakdown of LSU quarterback, and potential Washington Commanders pick at No. 2 overall, Jayden Daniels.

In the conversation on Daniels, the former Redskins tight end goes over the things he likes and what he doesn't like about the potential next Commanders quarterback after watching LSU play games against Auburn, Ole Miss and others.

"So I'm in my third game," Cooley said, "and I'm like, 'this is like a walking highlight tape. You're just watching throws. You're just watching dropbacks and passing plays and it's a highlight tape. It's insane. Jayden Daniels is incredible."

Cooley said Daniels' frame appears slender, but at 210 pounds on a 6-foot-4 frame isn't that slender, and "it's not like he couldn't get to 225 within a year or two years."

"Crazy athletic, his agility is awesome. His ability to side-step, move out of the way, avoid, dodge all incredible," he continued. "Except for when he doesn't. Because he gets smoked. He's gonna have to learn that.

"[When running] he can slide, you can watch enough games to see him slide. He knows how to slide. I think he's just competitive as a runner. He gets freakin waxed in the first half of the Ole Miss game, which is a first half that is like 31-28 with unbelievable offense. But he got hit in the face so hard and fumbled and went up in the air, like 'Oh my god, dude.' You could say that he's gotta be able to protect the football, but you gotta know that that's not a hit you need to take. Especially a quarterback and he took three or four in that game. And he took a couple in every game."

As a passer: "I think he's got pretty good feet in the pocket, I think he's gotta willingness to stay in the pocket. I think LSU runs some legitimate stuff where you see spacing and you see him read things out. He, as a progression type of guy, can get through progressions, at least can read the defense and identify who's going to be open and where they're gonna be open and throw the ball in rhythm and timing that is relatable to that concept.

"He can work short concepts with short spacing concepts. He can work 2 by 2 concepts, he's good out of a bunch set. Layering the ball down the field over linebackers on some of the little run-action, play-action throws. To really drive it in over linebackers is awesome. I think he's very accurate. He's finding these throws where you're seeing things that would contradict what I just said, but I think for the most part he throws a really catchable and accurate ball.

"He takes some risks, but I think he also takes necessary risks in the moments of the game where you're like 'Oh, that's a bad decision.' Yeah, and we could put that on film and say, out of context, it's a terrible decision. But a lot of the times, I think he's got a good flow for the game and how he's managing exactly that."

Cooley added that his rhythm is "really, really good" and his feet have "gotten better throughout the year" and better than the year before.

As a runner: "Gonna make big plays on the move. As a scrambler, he's obviously a massive problem when he gets out in the open field. You could have a second-and-23 and all the sudden he's running for 45 yards. It's not like he's gonna gain eight-12 yards and slide, but he can get you 45-50 and outrun the entire defense."

The Negative: "I don't think he's gotta rifle. He can really let it go, he can throw a ball downfield and throw a ball downfield with a ton of arc – he does a great job on deep balls – but I don't think he's got a throw it across the field to 17 yards on a comeback gun. To me that's not what I see. He's got good touch on the ball and he can drive a ball to the middle of the field, but to just sling it on a bee-line to that mid-range, 15-20 yards-ish, he's got some touch on most of his throws. Which you're fine on the timing of it and is a much more catchable ball, but can get you in trouble on the NFL level where windows aren't open as long as you want them to be open."

Cooley called Daniels' arm "medium in terms of velocity and drive on the ball, but it's not bad."

Overall: "I thought overall he's really freakin special." Cooley continued: "To me, he seemed an incredibly experienced college quarterback. He's calm in the pocket, his demeanor is absolutely tremendous. He makes big-time throws, he makes big throws in big plays. I think his discipline is good, his timing is good... he's a walking freaking highlight reel. How is this not your pick?"

Are we going to see this at the NFL level, too? "I think you're gonna see this immediately at the NFL level. To me, this is the new norm in a lot of ways. He might take some time to develop in terms of an offensive, all-arounder. It might not, it might look like CJ Stroud. It will probably depend on the scheme and the offense and some of the guys around him."

Cooley said this is "my guy at No. 2."

Listen to the complete conversation on the audio player above!