In 2024, it looked like Jayden Daniels was the second coming of Lamar Jackson. He led the Washington Commanders to a 12-5 record, threw for over 3500 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and reached the NFC Championship. If he could accomplish all that as a rookie, it was scary to think what he’d do in year two. Well, unfortunately, the NFL is a year-to-year league. Washington didn’t have the same magic last season, and Daniels didn’t have the same good fortune as a nasty elbow injury limited him to just 11 games.
Much of the blame for the regression fell at the feet of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who many feel didn’t do enough to protect his young quarterback. He didn’t make adjustments as injuries mounted. Worse still, he came into conflict with general manager Adam Peters over how to proceed with Daniels’ development. Hence, Kingsbury was fired and replaced by young assistant David Blough. The former quarterback is tasked with getting the young signal-caller back on track. His solution, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN?
Put Jayden Daniels in a Ben Johnson offense.
“Major changes followed to the coaching staff, giving Daniels a new offensive coordinator in David Blough, who was Washington’s assistant quarterbacks coach the past two seasons. Stylistically, the Commanders expect the offense to look more like what Ben Johnson ran in Detroit and is now running in Chicago. The hope is those changes and their offseason additions reduce the need for Daniels to make as many hero plays as he had to make during their 2024 run.
One problem is that the Commanders didn’t make any major additions to the WR group, which means they’re counting on McLaurin staying healthy, as well as big contributions from journeyman Treylon Burks and third-round rookie Antonio Williams. They added free agent running back Rachaad White to play the role Austin Ekeler was supposed to play last season before his Achilles injury.”
This solution is hardly surprising.
After all, everybody saw what Johnson did for Caleb Williams last season in Chicago. It started with getting the young quarterback under center more often, leaning into the running game, and using play-action. This drastically reduced the number of sacks Williams took, dropping from 68 as a rookie to 24 in 2025. Defenses weren’t able to pin their ears back to go after him. Lots of motion and formation shifts also kept opponents guessing before the snap. As a result, Williams put up career-best numbers across the board, won the division, and beat Green Bay in the playoffs.
Blough choosing this route makes sense. After all, he was a quarterback for the Detroit Lions from 2019 through 2021. That last season was spent under Johnson, who was the team’s passing game coordinator. It isn’t hard to imagine the young coach left an impression on Blough, who saw his evolution into an offensive wizard over the next few years, like everybody else. If what he did is good enough for Williams, it should be good enough for Jayden Daniels.
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Daniels must clear the same hurdles Williams did.
Like the Bears quarterback, he came out of college having thrived in a spread offense, utilizing his excellent speed to slice up defenses. The problem is that Johnson’s style of system is significantly different. Playing under center often means turning your back to the defense when making handoffs and running play-action fakes. It is much more complex. Many spread quarterbacks who dazzled in college often find they have no earthly idea how to handle such an adjustment. Plenty of people were skeptical that Williams could. He even admitted it took him over half the season to finally get on the same page with Johnson.
That is what awaits Daniels in Washington. It’s worth noting that Blough is completely untested as an offensive playcaller. He only started coaching in 2024. This is uncharted territory for him. Wanting to copy Johnson’s offense isn’t a bad idea. Yet there is a big gap between wanting to and being able to. Daniels made his name in a specific style of offense. Now he must completely rebuild his game from the ground up. Is he willing to try? We’ll find out in the months ahead.
