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Inside Jayden Daniels Offseason Plans To Improve For Year 2

Bonisiwe Shabane
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inside jayden daniels offseason plans to improve for year 2

Rookie seasons are full of learning lessons for every NFL player, even ones who light the league on fire like quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels was a revelation for the Washington Commanders, both in terms of providing stability at the quarterback position and turning the franchise into a playoff contender. He set records, helped the Commanders get their best record in decades and even entered the fringes of the MVP conversation. There is always a learning curve for players going from college to the professional game, but Daniels seemed to pick things up much easier compared to his counterparts around the league. The reality is that playing 17 games plus going through a playoff run is a taxing process, and Daniels felt the physical toll after the season came to an end. Now that he's experienced it firsthand, it has shaped everything about his offseason routine.

"It's a long season," Daniels told Bryan Colbert Jr. on "Next Man Up." "Now, just put the team around me, ask questions, ask vets and reach out to other individuals [to ask], 'How did you navigate your first offseason?'" It seems like one of the first items on Daniels' agenda was to put on a little weight. Daniels laughed it off when asked multiple times about his physique during the first week of Phase 3 of the offseason workout program, but it's clear that he has a little more muscle in... For players on the Washington Commanders’ roster, the offseason presents an opportunity to heal, rest, and really focus on individual plans for getting better before the next season. Quarterback Jayden Daniels entered his first NFL offseason in a better position than most, and after leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game, there weren’t a whole lot of holes in his game...

That doesn’t mean there aren’t areas he could get better in as he looks to take Washington another step forward this season, and he spent much of his offseason looking for physical and technical... Given his dual-threat style of play, it made sense for Daniels to prepare his body for the punishment defensive players love to dish out to quarterbacks. While he escaped his rookie season relatively unscathed, the quarterback’s efforts were focused on being “able to soften the blow as much as possible,” Daniels says. “That helps out because obviously those guys might get a good shot on you and they weigh a lot more than I do. So, just be able to try to build more muscle to absorb those hits.” Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has dedicated the offseason to his craft, and how he feels he can be even better than his incredible 2024 performance.

Jayden Daniels surpassed all expectations in his rookie season, leading the Washington Commanders to the NFC title game while taking out both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions in the playoffs. The Commanders have found an elite franchise quarterback, and heading into year two, the Offensive Rookie of the Year is fully focused on going even further. Jayden Daniels had very few weaknesses in his rookie season. He started immediately and, within a matter of weeks, had become one of the most mesmerizing quarterbacks in the NFL. He threw for 3,568 passing yards and 25 touchdowns in the regular season, while rushing for another 891 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. If you expected Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to relax after a record-breaking rookie season, then think again.

After leading Washington to its best season in 33 years, winning two playoff games and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Daniels is already thinking about next year. One of the knocks on Daniels coming out of LSU was his size, specifically his frame. While he's 6-foot-4, Daniels is thin and sometimes runs recklessly. It led him to take some unnecessary hits in college. During his rookie season, Daniels remained healthy outside of a Week 7 rib injury. While he never missed any games, he was banged up for a few weeks, which just happened to be Washington's most challenging stretch of the 2024 season.

In a conversation with Kevin Clark of "This is Football," Daniels discussed his offseason plans. "I haven't really sat down and thought about that yet," Daniels said when asked if there was a specific area where he wanted to improve. Jayden Daniels has been one of the few quarterbacks to get selected and showcase his talents right away, as he dominated from the jump and led the Washington Commanders to an NFC Championship Game. That was a huge leap for a team that hadn’t posted a winning record in eight years. Daniels stepped up in a big way, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year after completing 331 of 480 passes (69.0%) for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran 148 times for 891 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and six rushing touchdowns.

Now, the challenge is meeting those lofty expectations, as many rookies hit a sophomore slump in Year 2. We saw that with Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud last season, who had a bit of a down year. But Daniels is determined to go above and beyond this offseason to avoid that in 2025. Daniels has shown that he can keep rising to the moment—he never slowed down during the season or in the playoffs. The game never looked too fast, and the spotlight never seemed too bright.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports senior reporter Jori Epstein, Daniels said he’s focused on avoiding the dreaded slump. “I’m sitting down and watching film and trying to eliminate some tendencies, as much as possible. Talking to the coaching staff on areas that they feel like I need to improve on and having conversations so we can all hit at full speed.” Meet Harper Lee, a happy young dog who has overcome much hardship and is searching for her forever home. Great Dog Rescue New England (GDRNE), a dedicated foster-based dog rescue in Massachusetts, recently highlighted Harper Lee, a mixed-breed girl who came into their care some time ago. According to the rescue, “Harper came into foster care a small, frail, and emaciated puppy; her legs were terribly deformed.

We had hoped that it was just rickets and proper nutrition could fix her legs. Sadly, the rickets had already done permanent damage to her bones. She did wear a brace for a while on the worst-shaped leg, and it helped straighten it out some.” It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human... Quarterback Jayden Daniels looked like a potential future superstar as he guided the Washington Commanders to this year's NFC Championship Game and ran away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the...

Daniels nevertheless understands he must "prove" himself as an NFL QB1 each year. During a recent chat with Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, Daniels spoke about how reviewing game film from his debut pro campaign showed him what he needed to work on during his first offseason... "My main focus was on how I can improve mechanically from Year 1 to Year 2," Daniels said. "…You kind of just see your tendencies and what you think some people will try to use against you going into the next season." Some viewed Daniels and not Caleb Williams as the top quarterback prospect in the 2024 draft before the Chicago Bears took Williams with the first pick of the player-selection process. Washington happily grabbed Daniels at No.

2, and he was better than advertised as he helped the club win 12 of 17 regular-season games. Per Pro Football Reference, Daniels finished his rookie season ranked fourth in the league among qualified quarterbacks with a 70.6 adjusted QBR. According to StatMuse, he was seventh in the NFL with 4,459 combined passing and rushing yards, and he was ninth with 31 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Time crunch?Get all your NFL news here in just 60 words Jayden Daniels will have some pressure on him to repeat his rookie heroics in 2025. That’s why he’s started working toward success by putting on some muscle this offseason.

The latest photos of him at training camp show a stark difference from Year 1 to Year 2. But will that help? One of the biggest critiques of Daniels coming into the league was that his style of play didn’t match his frame. He would recklessly throw his body into harm’s way constantly in college at LSU. Luckily, he never suffered a serious injury doing this. But NFL scouts believed Daniels would get smoked and end up on the shelf for a while if he tried to pull off some of those antics in the league.

Surprisingly, though, Daniels remained incredibly healthy in his rookie year while putting up elite rushing totals for a quarterback. Now, with a target on his back, the Washington Commanders quarterback revealed how he’s been trying to bulk up this offseason. “I’ve been doing a little curls,” Daniels told ESPN while laughing. “Couple curls, a couple push-ups.” If you expected Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to relax after a record-breaking rookie season, then think again. After leading Washington to its best season in 33 years, winning two playoff games and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Daniels is already thinking about next year.

One of the knocks on Daniels coming out of LSU was his size, specifically his frame. While he's 6-foot-4, Daniels is thin and sometimes runs recklessly. It led him to take some unnecessary hits in college. During his rookie season, Daniels remained healthy outside of a Week 7 rib injury. While he never missed any games, he was banged up for a few weeks, which just happened to be Washington's most challenging stretch of the 2024 season. In a conversation with Kevin Clark of "This is Football," Daniels discussed his offseason plans.

"I haven't really sat down and thought about that yet," Daniels said when asked if there was a specific area where he wanted to improve.

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