Jayden Daniels is perfectly suited to give the No 1 seed Lions a

Jayden Daniels led Washington to their first playoff win in nearly 20 years. Photograph: Kim Klement Neitzel/USA Today Sports

The quarterback may be a rookie but he doesn’t play like one. And his skillset could well help the Commanders spring a surprise in Detroit on Saturday

There’s a legitimate argument to be made that if you’re a rookie NFL quarterback, and your team makes the playoffs, you are no longer a rookie. By your first postseason game, your opponent has a full season of your game tape and tendencies, you’re playing with more on the line, and the experience is completely different in both importance and intensity.

In the case of the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, we may have to forward that point a bit. Because Daniels, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, rarely looked like a rookie when he was. In the regular season, he completed 69.0% of his passes for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.1, which ranked 10th among regular starting quarterbacks. Add in Daniels’ 148 rushing attempts for 891 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and six touchdowns, and it’s abundantly clear that he’s well past whatever limitations we can reasonably expect from a first-year quarterback of any stripe.

In Washington’s 23-20 wildcard win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Daniels pushed his credentials even closer to the fore. He completed 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 110.2. He also ran the ball 13 times for 36 yards and several crucial conversions against a Buccaneers defense that was set to attack him as a passer with the blitz, and as a runner with stacked boxes.

No matter what was arrayed against him, it didn’t work.

As a passer, Daniels was able to foil the Bucs’ frequent pressures because he’s an evolutionary reader of defenses pre-snap, and everything that happens in the play comes from his own understanding. Daniels’ second passing attempt of the game, a 35-yard completion to Terry McLaurin, was a perfect example. Tampa Bay’s defense had a complex blitz prepared for him. Daniels recognized it all, adjusted for the pressure, and eased one of his beautiful downfield throws as if he was relaxing with a backyard game.

This is not a rookie quarterback.

Jayden Daniels IDs the pressure and shifts the protection pre-snap, and has Antoine Winfield Jr. screaming right at him after the RB misses the blitz. No problem whatsoever. 33-air yard fade to Terry McLaurin. pic.twitter.com/pRbrw2sk7k

Daniels was pressured on 15 of his 40 dropbacks, and he completed seven of 12 passes under pressure for 97 yards, both of his touchdown passes, and a passer rating of 123.1.

As the game progressed, the 24-year-old was tasked to extend drives as a runner when the game was close. The most crucial play in that regard was his four-yard run on third-and-two from the Tampa Bay 19-yard line with 55 seconds left. The game was tied 20-20, and the first down was crucial because the Commanders wanted to run the clock down before kicking a game-winning field goal.

Tampa Bay defensive lineman Calijah Kancey actually did a marvelous job of crashing through Washington’s offensive line to create the potential for a negative play, but after a wicked counter fake handoff to running back Brian Robinson (we’ve written before about Washington’s multi-faceted run concepts) Daniels was able to escape Kancey’s grasp, and all Kancey got out of it was Daniels’ towel … and a full head of frustration.

I don’t want to say that the Buccaneers threw in the towel here… but at least they walked away with that. pic.twitter.com/3kp3V1pOL0

Kancey’s reaction after Daniels was able to pick up the first down epitomized how opposing defenders have generally felt about having to deal with him all season long. One kneeldown later, Zane Gonzalez “doinked” the Commanders to the divisional round with the franchise’s first playoff win since the 2005 season – also over the Buccaneers.