Commanders QB Jayden Daniels' message to college players about to join NFL

We got an opportunity with Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels that isn't often experienced.

With the Commanders' quarterback making his first career start on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his first playoff start against the same team at the same venue, we got to witness as close to a full-season progress report as we'll ever get.

The result was fantastic. Daniels led Washington to a 23-20 win over the Buccaneers in the playoffs that ended on a game-winning field goal capping off a drive that ate nearly five minutes of game clock to seal the deal. It wasn't the end of the season, but it was perhaps the definitive moment of the year that proved beyond any doubt that the Commanders have a new franchise quarterback.

With that result now in the rear view mirror, Daniels was asked by former NFL head coach Jon Gruden in a recent interview on his Barstool YouTube show what advice he'd give to college players about to become rookies. To answer that question, the quarterback went all the way back to the beginning.

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

"I think probably the main thing I'll say is you got to earn everything," Daniels responded. "No matter where you got drafted at, you still got to go in there, as soon as you get drafted, as soon as you go in that locker room, you got to earn the respect of your teammates, especially the vets. They've been doing it at a high level for some time, so they're going to look to you like, 'Okay, what is this kid made about?' So you just go in and keep your work ethic and go earn the respect of your vets."

Players drafted at the top of the NFL Draft, like Daniels, who was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024, don't usually walk into a room full of future Hall of Fame players.

As part of the Commanders' re-tooling under general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn, however, Daniels joined a locker room featuring the likes of tight end Zach Ertz and linebacker Bobby Wagner, who joined the team previous to the draft via free agency.

"That's my guy," Daniels said of Wagner. "It is like a big brother, little brother dynamic. He took me under his wing and everything, so I just went in and was like the open mic myself, like, 'Man, I got so much to learn about this game. I don't know anything. I don't know jack about the NFL. I don't know how the season's going to go. I don't know how long it's going to be, so I'm going to rely on the vets.' They've been through it multiple years and how they take care of the body, how they approach this, how they approach watching film and stuff like that."

Witnessing all of the good habits around him could only take Daniels so far though. At the end of the day, and what he was most praised for early and often by his teammates and coaches, it was his work ethic and dedication to being the best he could be that helped him get to becoming one of the easiest NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners in history.

That's another factor of success for Daniels to potentially pass on to any incoming rookies in 2025. He was praised early and often not becuase he worked hard once, but because he did so all year long.

"Consistency is the biggest thing in this league, and having a consistent routine," says Daniels. "Obviously, you got to redefine it each and every year as you get older, but finding your routine as fast as possible, I mean that's probably going to set you up for the most success in the long run."

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