{"id":579766,"date":"2026-04-12T12:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/579766\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:58:22","slug":"jayden-daniels-setback-puts-commanders-on-the-clock-with-one-crucial-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/579766\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayden Daniels setback puts Commanders on the clock with one crucial decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will have everything to prove in 2026<\/a>. But general manager Adam Peters must also do his part to aid the dynamic signal-caller.<\/p>\n

Coming off one of the most electrifying rookie seasons by a passer in NFL history, everything that could have gone wrong for him in Year 2 went wrong. He played in only seven games, finishing only four<\/a>, and his stats took a nosedive.<\/p>\n

A lot of that can be blamed on the lack of support Daniels had around him. Top wide receiver Terry McLaurin was injured<\/a> for most of the time the quarterback was healthy, and former offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury did not establish the run as he did in 2024.<\/p>\n

Jay Gruden calls on Commanders to get a dynamic wide receiver during the 2026 NFL Draft<\/p>\n

All of that needs to change during the 2026 campaign, and the Commanders might have a prime opportunity to add a dynamic offensive weapon in the 2026 NFL Draft with the No. 7 overall pick, namely Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love or Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate.<\/p>\n

It raises an interesting question about which direction Washington should take.<\/p>\n

Former Washington head coach Jay Gruden appeared on 106.7 The Fan to discuss Daniels and the upcoming draft. Grant Paulsen asked him whether it would be more beneficial<\/a> for the signal-caller to have another wideout to throw to, or a running back to loosen his load.<\/p>\n

“I think with Jayden’s skill set, I would rather have an exceptional wide receiver that can take more coverage and force a lot of teams to play more Cover 2, where he can really use his ability to run the ball. The back will be a lot better because of that, because they have a great receiver that can take the top off.”<\/p>\n

Commanders fans might not have the fondest memories of Gruden’s coaching tenure, but he makes sense here.<\/p>\n

Particularly, Daniels could use another receiving weapon. His struggles last season were all related to a lack of separation in the offense. His accuracy and field vision cratered, in large part because nobody could get open.<\/p>\n

When you have an elite passing game, it makes the backfield better. Especially for a dual-threat quarterback like Daniels, new coordinator David Blough will be able to utilize more designed runs for him as opposed to making him scramble out of necessity.<\/p>\n

If Love and Tate are both available when Washington selects at No. 7<\/a>, the decision should be an easy one. The Commanders’ single most important need is a second high-profile pass-catcher opposite McLaurin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will have everything to prove in 2026. But general manager Adam Peters must…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-579766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}