PFF found a weakness; here's Commanders' chess move to fix it

Jayden Daniels’s rookie season as quarterback of the Washington Commanders was so impressive and sometimes magical that it can be easy to get consumed by the idea that there’s no way it wasn’t just a sign of things to come.

Given a year to study his tendencies and the offense within which he operates, however, defensive coordinators are gearing up for a 2025 season where they seek to prove that what the Commanders did last year was as much about being unknown as it was about talent.

So the question coming into Week 1 of the regular season is going to at least be partially about the New York Giants’ defense getting first crack at sending Washington into an all-around sophomore slump, starting with Daniels himself. Pro Football Focus seems to think they might know where they’ll look first.

The Blueprint to Attack?

According to the popular analytics and evaluation site, “Daniels’ rookie season is arguably one of the best we’ve ever seen from a quarterback. His 91.3 PFF overall grade ranks second among all rookie passers in the PFF era (since 2006), and he led his team to the brink of a Super Bowl appearance. While there were few areas in which he struggled, he did have some issues when teams forced him to move in the pocket to the left or backward. Daniels posted a 46.9 PFF overall grade in those situations, and he took a sack a league-high 37% of the time. If he moved up or right, Daniels earned an 87.7 PFF overall grade and generated positive EPA 58.2% of the time. It’s clear he has a movement preference, but can defensive coordinators force him back and left?"

This is where those worried about Daniels taking a step backward can get overly concerned about the data. While it is true that the quarterback doesn’t do nearly as well when moving to his left or even retreating straight back, the drop-off here is more than you’d expect from any right-handed quarterback.

The 37 percent sack rate is high as well, and can be a real drive-killer if defenses can get Daniels into those movements on critical third downs.

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5). | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Chess Match Begins

The good news is, this is something that was identified in 2024, so the Commanders and Daniels already know it's coming. And just like the defenses can coordinate plans to push the quarterback to the left, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury can draw up counters to those advances. And therein lies the chess match.

If opposing defenses start to send their left side rushers wide to prevent Daniels from escaping the right side of the pocket, sending a receiver into the space they leave behind or even designing pulling lineman to then go through the vacant gap on a quarterback keep are two rather simple beginnings to countering the technique.

We even saw opposing defenses slant their entire rush to the left, Daniels’ right, in an effort to keep him contained, and oftentimes it either led to backdoor passes exploiting open space in the middle of the field, or a run straight up the field by the quarterback himself.

Getting Better at Being Uncomfortable

The fact of the matter is, Daniels and all of Washington understand there is no improvement unless you get better at being uncomfortable, and aim to make your weaknesses your strengths. So as much as opposing defenses may have learned about his preferences, they haven’t learned what he’s doing to get more comfortable in other areas.

This is just one way Kingsbury and his other coaches prepare him for the coming attacks. Show him pressure from the left to get him thinking he’ll be clean where he most wants to be, and then bring it from that right side instead, or design more rollouts where you don’t give the defense opportunities to seal off Daniels’ sweet spot, or many other tactics that can be employed.

Daniels told us this offseason he worked a lot on getting his footwork to a better place, something that will also help him react and parry whatever defensive coordinators draw up for him.

When a quarterback’s feet are solid, his body is in control, and his eyes can stay focused on the passing opportunities ahead of him. For Daniels, he can remain vigilant in his search for escape routes, taking the desire paths that the Giants and others inevitably leave for him in their attempts to push him into a panic.

It’s just one part of the subtle chess match that happens across the NFL all year long. The better an opponent you prove to be, the more elaborate the chess moves become. And given what he did as a rookie in 2024, we should see some grandmaster-type ingenuity coming Daniels’ way in 2025, and we can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2025 season.

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