Insider Makes Brutal Jayden Daniels Prediction vs. Steelers

One NFL insider sees a rough game coming for Jayden Daniels against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite missing almost all of last week’s game with a rib injury, Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels still ranks third among quarterbacks this season in fantasy points per game. He faces fellow rookie QB Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears this week.

PITTSBURGH — Jayden Daniels has been the conversation around the league, as he has led the Washington Commanders to a 7-2 record leading into their matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Daniels is the current front-runner for offensive rookie of the year and has made the Commanders become nationally relevant for the first time in years.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes that this matchup against the Steelers will be different, however. He suggests that the Steelers will have a similar game plan as they did when facing former Washington phenom Robert Griffin III in 2012 during his rookie season.

“I keep thinking back to 2012, when [Griffin] was a rookie,” Florio said. “The Steelers had a very simple game plan: be extremely physical with this rookie phenom quarterback. They will be, within the limits of the rules, I’m not suggesting any attempt to injure. All I’m saying is, to the extent that Jayden Daniels hasn’t had a welcome-to-the-NFL moment, he’ll have one against the Steelers.”

Daniels hasn’t been incredible in every game, and his first game ended in a loss to the Buccaneers, where he threw for 184 yards and zero touchdowns. His first passing touchdown was to former Steelers offensive tackle Trent Scott. The Commanders, however, have yet to face a defense that has been as consistently good as the Steelers have been.

In order to excel, Daniels will likely have to rely on large chunk-plays, plays like the 43 yard catch Darius Slayton had for the Giants against the Steelers. With 8.5 yards per attempt, Daniels is able to stretch the field in a way that most quarterbacks in the NFL cannot, and it will put the Steelers’ secondary to the test.

While I don’t see this game as one of outright domination for Daniels, the notion that this game will be one where he gets exposed to the fullest extent seems equally as unlikely.