Should Commanders 'Bench' Jayden, Start Marcus Mariota?

ASHBURN, Va. - Historically speaking, there is no right or wrong answer here.

And the Washington Commanders, and as they set to center their franchise future aound rookie first-round pick Jayden Daniels, know it.

Bring him along slowly?

Or throw him into the deep end?

There is an argument being made in some quarters that the Commanders should definitively do the former, complete with the idea of starting Marcus Mariota over Daniels to open the season.

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And this leads to the only "right vs. wrong'' aspect of the historical debate.

Saying Mariota should start - and doing so in a definitive way - is wrong.

And saying definitively that Mariota, because of his veteran experience, is the better player, or is more likely to win games?

That is wrong as well.

There is little Mariota has done in recent seasons to justify the etched-in-stone idea that he's better than ... well, almost anybody.

The last time he was allowed to be a starter was two seasons ago in Atlanta, where the Falcons head coach was Arthur Smith, who'd mentored the QB when they were together with the Tennessee Titans.

If any marriage was going to work, it was going to be that one.

It did not work.

Daniels will be the future starting QB, obviously. When should that "future'' begin?

Think back to how this can work ... or can fail.

A rookie QB can be "thrown to the wolves'' and survive it ... or even thrive as a result.

In recent memory, that certainly happened last year in Houston with C.J. Stroud, Daniels' pal. And inside the NFC East? Is certainly happened in a big way in Dak Prescott's 2016 debut season with the Dallas Cowboys.

Can starting a rookie QB "destroy him''? New offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury will be charged with the responsibility of keeping that from happening, but history also tells us this ...

If the kid is destined to be a stud - barring rookie-season injury - starting his first season does not retard that growth.

Mariota has the experience advantage, but that's all he has over Daniels, this team's 2024 second-overall pick in the NFL Draft. ... this team's hope.

There is no guarantee on getting this right. But Mariota vs. Daniels as a player?

That's not really a difficult call.