Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is entering his third season in the NFL, and it's been quite a ride. From earning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and leading his team to its first NFC Championship appearance in decades to appearing in just seven games in 2025, Daniels is already facing adversity in 2026 with injuries to his offensive line.
Under David Blough, the Commanders hope Daniels remains in the pocket for more pass plays rather than running with the ball as much, but injuries to Nick Allegretti and Laremy Tunsil put that goal in question.
Even with the mitigating factors, though, former NFL head coach and current NFL analyst Jon Gruden believes Daniels will be in the MVP conversation.
He's going to be in the MVP discussion
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— Commander in Chief (@_Nonballknower) August 11, 2026
Gruden starts out by acknowledging everything Daniels accomplished as a rookie, and how he suffered multiple injuries and was forced to watch his team lose from the sidelines. "I think he's got a chip on his shoulder," Gruden says around the 30-second mark. "I think he's gonna come out firing, man, in 2026. He makes everybody better. His leadership, his energy, his style of play. He's accurate short, he's accurate deep, he can just make s*** happen when there's nothing there."
Gruden goes on to talk about Daniels' percentage of runs on drop-back passes and how he'd like to see the young quarterback become more of a Steve Young-type of player. "Win in the pocket. And then, if there's nothing there, we resort to scrambling. But we gotta take, I think, the ball out of his hands as a runner a little bit, and we gotta start getting him to really make plays in the pocket."
That's the entire idea of Blough's scheme in 2026, to keep Jayden Daniels from running off with the ball and taking unnecessary hits that could lead to injury. Daniels' accuracy has never been a problem; he is an elite passer in the NFL. What needs to happen, though, is for him to retrain his brain to a pass-first mentality. Doing that with success, which is possible with the addition of Stefon Diggs, will have people turning their heads and uttering his name when it comes time to vote for the end-of-year awards.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Jon Gruden believes Commanders' Jayden Daniels will be in MVP talks
