Jayden Daniels wrote himself into the record books as he continued his historic rookie season.
The Washington Commanders quarterback was 26 of 30 passing for one touchdown with one interception in a 42-14 win against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4.
Daniels is making the NFL look easyGetty
Daniels broke newly-paid Dallas Cowboys superstar Dak Prescott‘s rookie record 88.9 percent completion rate with his mark of 91.3 percent in Week 3.
And he matched another Prescott feat as only the second first-year signal caller to achieve a passer rating of 90 or higher and completion percentage of 70 or higher in four consecutive games on Sunday.
Daniels finished the Cardinals game with a 86.6 percent completion percentage and a 96.3 passer rating.
Through his first four games as a pro he has an 82.1 completion percentage.
That’s the highest ever (minimum 75 attempts) for a rookie, beating Tom Brady (2007, 79.2), Geno Smith (2022, 77.3), and Kyler Murray (2021, 76.1).
Any question marks hanging over Daniels ahead of the season mostly surrounded his arm talent and small stature.
But there were no doubts about the former LSU Tiger’s ability with his legs.
Heisman winner Daniels racked up 47 yards on the ground for one TD against the Cardinals to make more history.
His 218 yards rushing yards so far this season are the second-most over a rookie’s first four games.
He moved ahead of Daunte Culpepper, Charlie Batch, Randall Cunningham, and Steve Young, but former Washington star Robert Griffin III remains out in front with an incredible 234.
Robert Griffin IIIWashington234Jayden Daniels*Washington218Steve Young HOFTampa Bay193Randall CunninghamPhiladelphia186Charlie BatchPittsburgh177Daunte CulpepperMinnesota175
RG3 was selected with the second pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and looked set to become the NFL’s next big thing at quarterback.
But one mistake derailed what could have been an incredible career.
Aiming to go 8-6, Griffin was forced off with a knee injury against the Baltimore Ravens, with Kirk Cousins replacing him to inspire an overtime win.
Griffin III looked set to dominate football
The rookie missed only one game and returned for a playoff clash with the Seattle Seahawks despite not being medically cleared.
He tore his ACL and started just 20 more games for Washington – winning five – as his career nosedived.
Meanwhile, Cousins has $280 million in career earnings after securing a big-money move to the Atlanta Falcons this offseason.
Long-time NFL journalist Mike Silver told the PardonMyTake podcast about a behind-the-scenes incident involving the pair.
“You’ll remember that game that year where RG3 gets hurt (against Baltimore) and now Kirk Cousins who they had also drafted that year, has to play in Cleveland,” Silver explained.
“And they (Washington) run a more traditional Shanahan game-plan. With a lot of boots, fake hand-off, the roll-out…and Kirk Cousins goes wild in that game and they win.
“So now, here’s the post-game scene: Dan Snyder barrels through the locker room, goes right past Kirk Cousins – who is having this glorious moment – almost steps on him to get to Robert Griffin and say to him ‘Hey, don’t worry, it’s okay, you’re still my guy.’ And Kirk is just standing there…it’s super awkward.
“While this is happening, RG2, Robert’s father, who was very involved has somehow managed to get into the locker room and he’s all over Mike Shanahan.
‘Why didn’t you call any running plays?’ And Mike was like ‘He (Cousins) can run on those boots, he just chose to throw.’ ‘We want to run those plays with Robert!’
“So Robert comes back too early, probably because he’s threatened by that. That playoff game where he ends tearing up the knee and that’s the beginning of the end, was horrible, but in most people’s minds he’ll get surgery and come back and they’ll build on this and it will be amazing.
“But at the end of the season, Mike Shanahan ends up recommending to Dan Snyder, Bruce Allen the GM, and the other owners, that they should trade Robert now.
“‘We know he’s not really what people think he is, the league is going to catch up and it’s not going to work out the way you think. His value is amazing – we might be able to get back the three ones we gave up and we can play with Kirk.’
“Mike Shanahan has it all figured out – like this is the best idea ever – and it did not go over well.”
So far, it has been plain sailing for Daniels, but he does not have to look far to see how quickly a dream can become a nightmare in the NFL.
Catch up with all the latest NFL news with talkSPORT’s brand new, dedicated YouTube channel – talkSPORT End Zone.
Each week, in The Run Down, Will Gavin, Brian T. Smith and a host of guests will take you through the NFL talking points, and look ahead to the latest round of action.
Alongside that we will have features, exclusive interviews and much more. Subscribe to the channel now, and watch the latest episode by hitting play on the button below
