Chris Russell wonders what the most important metric is for Jayden Daniels to hit this fall
Last season, 21 teams won eight or more games, but only 15 won eight or more games, 13 had 4,000 combined yards – 10 with at least 4K passing and three with enough rushing to surpass 4K combined – and just nine started all 17 games (including our own Sam Howell).
Three of the five who played 16 sat out Week 18 as a formality (guys named Lamar, Patrick, and Brock), but the point remains: even if you bump it up to 12 who could’ve, the numbers go down as the stats move on.
So, in that vein, Chris Russell asked which of those metrics – eight wins, 4K combined yards, or 17 starts – is the most important for you to see Jayden Daniels hit this fall?
“This was done with a purpose in terms of how I crafted the options,” Chris said. “For 4,000 or more combined yards – if you say, well, Jayden’s gonna pass for 3500 yards, which is like 210 a game over 17, and you throw in another 500 or so rushing yards, and his touchdown to turnover ratio is 2:1 or close to it? If you get me over 4,000 combined yards and you play 17 games, that's a smashing success.”
As we saw with Sam Howell, you don’t want a QB playing 17 games and getting sacked a bajillion times or losing a lot of fumbles, so maybe that ratio is important in all metrics – but what if the yardage total isn’t fantasy-quality but the rest are?
“We asked that and kind of crystallize it in your mind to, what if he just plays all 17 games, stays healthy?” Chris asked. “Maybe he doesn’t, and it’s Mariota for a game, but assuming he does, is that good enough? Maybe they’re not that good, maybe they’re better than people expect, maybe he’s CJ Stroud, but playing all 17 games means he stayed healthy, he avoided the car crash hits and avoided any freak injury – can’t say that happened in Robert's rookie year, right?”
Maybe, but Sam Howell did both and the Commanders were… (checks notes) 4-13 last year, so what if Jayden misses a few here and there and doesn’t have the combined yardage, is 8-9 or 8-8-1 or better okay given what we saw last year?
“Even if they finish 8-9 or 8-8-1, and obviously if they have a winning record, I think ultimately that is the most important thing, because I evaluate things for a team more than an individual,” Chris said. “But who am I kidding? It’s the No. 2 overall pick, the Heisman Trophy winner, hopefully the franchise savior, even though they're not trying to put that pressure and onus on him. We all know there are team goals, but there are individuals that get more attention, run, criticism, whatever, and he is the quarterback.”
Looks like we know where Rooster stands.
“What if he, and they, win eight or more games, and let's just say Daniels is fine – not great, but fine, with things to improve on but the arrow is pointing up?”
