Commanders' Austin Ekeler says Jayden Daniels is 'an absolute stud'

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

New Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler expanded on the hype surrounding rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels ahead of training camp.

"He's an absolute stud out there slinging it," Ekeler said Wednesday on NFL Network's "The Insiders" program. "I love his leadership that he's shown early on. You know, he's texting me about routes, he's calling me out in practice, 'Hey, Ek, this is what we need to do on this,' or 'What did you see on this choice route?'"

While the Commanders selected Daniels with the second pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25, head coach Dan Quinn has not yet named the first-year pro the club's starter over veteran Marcus Mariota. Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin praised Daniels' poise and overall understanding of the offense so early into his development. Ekeler suggested the rookie will be good to go for the regular-season opener at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 8.

"He's got all of the right stuff that I love to see from a quarterback that he's been bringing out in the first couple weeks that I've met him," Ekeler added about Daniels. "Looking forward to his growth, and we have a lot of veterans like you mentioned that we brought in to help set the culture."

The Commanders finished this past season at 4-13 and in the basement of the NFC East standings. As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Washington at +225 betting odds to win over 8.5 games during the upcoming campaign. Ekeler seemingly is advising teammates to ignore such forecasts.

"I'm thinking how can we become the best team possible right now while we're just together with each other because we have a lot of new pieces, we've got a lot of new parts," Ekeler said. "I don't care about what happened last year. That's how we're judged in this league, absolutely, on what have you done for me lately. Well, that's in the past. We have a new opportunity as a team to move forward."

Quinn and his staff reportedly want to see more from Daniels during training camp and the preseason before confirming a starting quarterback decision for Week 1. On Thursday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Daniels second among the betting favorites at +550 odds to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.

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