The Commanders are looking for a better season in 2026 — and that probably starts at quarterback.
And Jayden Daniels is hoping to master a new-look offense to get the team back on track.
The Commanders came off 2024 riding high after then-rookie sensation Daniels led the team to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991. But the 2025 season was not as kind, with the Commanders finishing 5-12 and well outside the playoff picture.
Injuries to Daniels didn’t help.
But even with that, the team decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury at the conclusion of the season and promoted David Blough to the role in January.
Bloughm, while an internal hire, is bringing in an entirely new offensive identity. Daniels said the unit still has “a long way to go” to fully learn the system.
The third-year signal-caller pointed to specific parts of the offense he is still trying to master
“Just learning the new offense, terminology, why we’re attacking this play, what we want to do on this play — things like that,” Daniels told reporters on Wednesday, per ESPN.
Daniels is looking to put that injury-ridden 2025 behind him. The quarterback enters his third season looking to mirror what he achieved as a rookie. That year, Daniels threw for 3,568 yards and had 25 touchdowns. He was also lethal with his legs; he added 892 yards on the ground with six touchdowns.
While Daniels believes he still has a long way to go to master it, head coach Dan Quinn has been pleased with how quickly the rookie has learned it.
“I thought he did a really good job of owning and being in command at a very quick level already,” Quinn said.
The Commanders open up against the division rival Eagles in Week 1 in their first real chance to test out the new-look offense.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
