Former Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels will be practicing at his old stomping grounds ahead of his Washington Commanders facing the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium, per Commanders beat reporters.
Daniels is coming off a breakout performance on Monday Night Football in a 38-33 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. Daniels completed 21 of his 23 pass attempts for 254 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 39 yards and another touchdown. Washington is now 2-1 and winners of two straight.
Daniels started as a true freshman in Tempe under then-head coach Herm Edwards, posting 17 touchdowns with only two interceptions. After a pandemic-shortened 2020 sophomore year, Daniels struggled more as a junior and would enter the transfer portal. He went to the SEC and LSU, where he built off a year of adapting and learning the system to winning the Heisman Trophy last season. This got Daniels selected second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The rookie quarterback’s visit will surely inspire questions on his decision to depart Arizona State, something he did speak on in December with The Pivot Podcast.
“There was just so much uncertainty there with everybody,” Daniels said. “[Antonio Pierce] was gone, I didn’t know anything about coach Herm, so I was like, ‘I gotta go somewhere else, I gotta start fresh.’ For me I was like, man, I seen what Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, what those guys were doing on this big stage and I grew up playing against them. I was like, ‘Nah, I know I can do this.’ … Then LSU came knocking. And I was like, ‘Man, I can’t pass up this opportunity.’ We play in the SEC, we play in the best conference and you play on national television every week. So I was like, ‘Man, I need to show and prove that I can play and show that I can.’”