A tale of three rookie quarterbacks: Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams & Drake Maye

Chicago, Washington and New England may all have their QBs of the future, but only one of the three will be in the playoffs this season. There are lessons to glean.

Getty Images

Let’s raise a glass to toast those who made these unions possible. Their 2023 contributions will be long forgotten in the annals of pro football. No statues will be erected. No streets will be renamed. When the advent calendar flips closer to Christmas Day, only masochist diehards and the D-teams at Fox and CBS even pay attention to such meaningless games because a 178th viewing of “A Christmas Story” is much more enjoyable. But a handful of players — many who are barely rosterable — can re-route history.

The future got fuzzy for New England with late wins over Pittsburgh and Denver but quarterback Bailey Zappe managed to lead the offense to zero points against the L.A. Chargers on Dec. 3 and throw three interceptions at Buffalo on Dec. 31 to help New England stumble its way to the No. 3 overall selection. So did New York Giants third-stringer Tommy DeVito in a 10-7 decision over Bill Belichick. The reward: North Carolina’s Drake Maye.

Washington relied on a New York Jets team going nowhere fast. On Christmas Eve, journeyman Trevor Siemian marched his troops into field goal range and — with five seconds left — kicker Greg Zuerlein drilled the 54-yarder to secure a Commanders loss. Once again, New York’s DeVito did his part with a 246-yard, three-touchdown performance to secure another Commander L. The reward: LSU’s Jayden Daniels.

And, of course, the future of the Chicago Bears hinged on that stench emanating from Charlotte, N.C. They owned the Carolina Panthers’ 2024 top pick and David Tepper’s crew was much obliged. There are many individuals to thank: Frank Reich for his bland X’s and O’s, the officials for letting this bobbled catch by Romeo Doubs slide on Green Bay’s game-winning drive and Jacksonville’s C.J. Beathard, one week later, for locking in that No. 1 pick with a 26-0 defeat. The Bears’ reward: USC’s Caleb Williams.

This is the hard part. Somehow limping your way into a draft pick that’ll produce a top talent. Doing so often leads to $3 tickets, paper bags over heads and mass firings.

All three quarterbacks, however, have supplied varying degrees of hope. All three made plays on Sunday that hint they’ll be answers long term. Yet, Daniels is on another level. Daniels is the one who threw five touchdowns in a wild 36-33 win over the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles, including the bullet of a game-winner to Jameson Crowder in the back of the end zone with 10 seconds remaining. He’s the clear offensive rookie of the year and he’ll also be the singular talent no team in the NFC wants to face in the wild card round three weeks from now.

Through a 10-5 start, Daniels has completed 69.7 percent of his passes for 3,303 yards with another 737 rushing yards, 28 total scores and only eight turnovers.

Numbers fail to tell the full story, though.

The rookie who turned 24 years old last week has faced moments loaded with pressure all season.

---

Share Go Long with a loved one this Christmas season.

We are powered by you.

Thank you!

---

Up close, Terry McLaurin has seen how Daniels handles that moment. He doesn’t cower — he smiles, he attacks it. After the Commanders’ latest heart-pounding triumph, the veteran wideout glowed like a kid who got everything he wanted for Christmas. In other words, the exact opposite of Malik Nabers’ weekly exasperation.

McLaurin cited his QB’s extreme poise. How it never matters if the offense is firing or stalling. Daniels always stays “even-keeled.”

“I’ve never seen that from a rookie at any position, let alone quarterback,” McLaurin said. “He has utmost confidence in the guys around him and he has a way of making the right plays when it’s time. You can’t teach that. His ability to get better each and every week — learn from his mistakes — is why I feel like he has a chance to be one of the great ones. He has a long way to go. But those are the moments that start to give you bigger steps in your career to continue to grow at a faster rate. It doesn’t get too much harder than going against a team like that. Back against the wall. We had so many turnovers. But when you’ve got to have it — when the game’s on the line — he made the plays, and we just tried to make the plays with him.

“I told him in the locker room I love playing with a guy like that. I’m extremely thankful for him to be on our team.”

Jalen Hurts going down with a concussion presented quite an opportunity. So did DeVonta Smith dropping a third-and-5 ball with two minutes left. This elementary completion would’ve allowed Philly to drain clock, close out a win, and keep a No. 1 seed squarely in sight. Still, it’s on Washington to pounce on the mistake. It’s on Washington to overcome their own five turnovers. Three fumbles and two interceptions should’ve ended this game long ago.

Building a group mentally strong enough to deliver is more complicated.

Teams try. Teams usually fail. Through seven games decided by five points or less, McLaurin believes the Commanders have built a “callous.”

“You look at everybody on that sideline today,” McLaurin said, “they were square-jawed looking you dead in your eye ready to make the play to try to win the game. Offense, defense, special teams. The energy we had on the sideline was incredible, even when they were making plays. It’s a testament to the guys in the locker room. Something we’ve built from Day 1 since ‘DQ’ and the coaching staff has gotten here. It takes the players buying into that and taking it to the next level.

“DQ has given us the keys to the car to build this thing the way we want it to look like. These are the moments it needs to show up. And it did.”

Finding the quarterback is the hard part, the 20-yard head start boosted by someone with a funky nickname like “Tommy Cutlets.” But it’s just that: a star. Immense talents at quarterback demand an equally immense responsibility.

Chicago and New England are both dealing with this harsh reality.

Week 16 in the NFL also revealed how far both Chicago and New England still must go because — too often — teams capsize their own ship. Owners discover new ways to screw up a potentially special thing. How else can Sam Darnold look so terrible as a New York Jet, yet so spectacular with the Minnesota Vikings? Everything you do around the quarterback can swing your fortunes one extreme or the other. And in one dynamite offseason, Washington checked nearly every box. Washington transformed from colossal joke into the league’s envy. Miraculously, they now represent the dream scenario.

An offensive innovator who knows how to schematically maximize the QB is paramount in the building, but the job of the head coach is so much greater than play design. Between Dan Quinn instilling belief, Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme and Jayden Daniels as the triggerman, the Commanders became the shocking story of the 2024 NFL season.

So many of us thought Chicago would take this leap. These Bears were positioned to be the ’23 Texans.

Instead, the offensive coordinator was fired. Then the head coach. Williams deserves his share of blame for this mess. Last week, former Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck was scathing in his criticism of the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears lost to Daniels on a Hail Mary on Oct. 27 and haven’t won since. Their crash landing continued on Sunday with a 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson strutted his stuff. This time, he called for Jared Goff to intentionally stumble and for running back Jahmyr Gibbs to fall down as players yelled, “Fumble!” Goff collected himself and hit tight end Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard TD. Every time you worry Johnson might’ve spoiled a fun play in a blowout win, he unveils something new. The well is, indeed, deep.

His resume was sparkling at Solider Field on Sunday. No doubt, Johnson would be able to work more sorcery with Caleb Williams.

The body language has been troublesome and the tendency to hold onto the ball can kill drives. I get Hasselbeck’s take. But this is still a quarterback who’s thrown for 3,271 yards and 19 touchdowns with only five picks for a team forever mired in quarterback purgatory, for a team that’s been without half its offensive line. This is a two-way audition. The Bears must also make themselves appealing to a candidate like Johnson, and Williams was superb in both Lions games.

If the OC is willing to gamble on the Bears’ odd power structure and rickety ownership, a partnership could work.

Those around Johnson in Detroit believe he’s much more than a playcaller.

Those around Williams see a leader with the emotional intelligence Justin Fields lacked. “It’s not the rah-rah, in-your-face,” one West Coast scout told Go Long. “Don’t get me wrong, he can be that. But it’s more behind the scenes. It’s more empathetic. It’s effective, man.”

Yet, too often teams find a way to screw this all up.

The Bears have spent this 2024 season discovering new disastrous ways to lose football games — that’s not merely bad luck, that’s in their DNA at this point. It won’t be easy for any coach to undo this all. The gap between Chicago and Washington was always much wider than a Hail Mary finish suggests because Matt Eberflus never came close to building the infrastructure Quinn has in D.C. No chance you’ll see an imbecile in the Commanders secondary taunting a fan before the final play of a game. And whereas Bears players openly ridiculed their coach’s late-game calamities, these Commanders coaches and players gush over Quinn. On our trip earlier this season for a Brian Robinson Jr. feature, run game coordinator Anthony Lynn described Quinn as “one of the best culture-builders” he’s ever met. The same Lynn who has played or coached for a third of the NFL.

Before the Commanders played one snap, Quinn instructed the players to author the team’s official creed themselves.

Quinn wanted the players to create the team from the ground-up in their vision.

“They wrote it and it’s just our job to help them carry it out,” Lynn said. “Dan does a heck of a job of just reiterating and then demonstrating. You can do it with video. You can do quotes. Pictures around the building. He’s just constantly showing examples of what it’s supposed to look like and constantly over-communicating in the meetings what it’s supposed to look like. The guys have bought in and it’s theirs.”

Added guard Sam Cosmi: “It’s my first time being able to feel a positive, upbeat culture. Guys that want to work hard, that’s really hard to do and it’s very impressive to be able to instill with such fast timing. We have a ton of guys that are bought in. It’s really hard to do that. You can talk the talk, but you’ve got to walk the walk.”

Getty Images

Even this marriage took a touch of good fortune… courtesy of Johnson.

Quinn only got this job after Johnson infamously withdrew his name from consideration while the Commanders’ brass was en route to Detroit to see him. They learned of Johnson’s intention to remain with the Lions on social media, too. Johnson sent a text message minutes later. Not the best look for the coach widely heralded as the No. 1 candidate in ‘24 and ‘25.

Striking gold is not easy.

But, hey, you’ve got to at least try.

The 2024 New England Patriots, on the contrary, did not even attempt to find the best possible replacement for Bill Belichick. Instead, linebackers coach Jerod Mayo had a clause written into his contract that designated him as the successor. Robert Kraft was never interested in interviewing anyone else for the job — patently ridiculous. Any other owner for any other team is blasted for such lunacy. The Patriots selected Maye No. 3 overall, waited a full month to finally start him over the struggling Jacoby Brissett and, now, even Mayo apologists must question whether he’s the man to maximize this quarterback.

Maye keeps flashing his upside. Despite a dearth of talent around him, he’s making quick decisions. He’s been highly accurate in tight windows. Best of all, he’s got guts. This roller-coaster touchdown in Nashville alone, with the clock at 0:00, should have Patriots fans thrilled about the future.

On Sunday, the Patriots gave their best effort of the season. But even in a 24-21 loss to the heavily favored Buffalo Bills, there were head-scratching moments from Mayo… like punting the ball to Josh Allen, down 10, with eight minutes left.

Too often, he seems over his head.

The good news is that receivers around the NFL will take note of Maye’s moxie. Last year, GM Eliot Wolf couldn’t sell Brandon Aiyuk on the future. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if the Patriots enjoy an Allen-like effect in March ’25 and March ’26. After Year 1 in Orchard Park, Cole Beasley and John Brown signed with the Bills. After Year 2, Stefon Diggs headed to Buffalo via trade. Suddenly, players at all positions were willing to put up with lake-effect snow and high taxes for the legit shot at a ring.

A quarterback can become such a magnetic force. Both the Patriots and Bears have money to spend — talent will come.

All along, whoever’s head coach must create a winning atmosphere, must somehow get everyone thinking like those Commander players the final minute vs. Philly. GM Adam Peters drastically changed his roster with a flurry of moves in free agency and Quinn made the most of his blank canvas.

As McLaurin said afterward, there’s no telling which individual play will completely change a game. It’s on the players to stay “locked into every single moment” and they “didn’t flinch.”

Jayden Daniels most certainly did not flinch. He already resembles the rare species of athlete who relishes the do-or-die moment.

This will be a dangerous opponent for anybody in the NFC when the playoffs begin.

“When you’ve been through something, you know what it looks like,” McLaurin said. “You know what it feels like. You do everything it takes to get over the hump. Again, that’s a testament to the culture we’re building here. And it’s exciting to be a part of — 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense, 11 on special teams and a coaching staff that all has the same message to be dog-ass competitors every single week and compete for four quarters.”

All of this is a friendly reminder to those teams stumbling their way into a Top 3 pick in 2025.

Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward may be franchise saviors. Both may also live for the same clutch throw with 10 seconds left. But even the son of “Prime” cannot do it alone.

The New York Giants (2-13) raced to pole position by virtue of the Las Vegas Raiders winning. Recently, we advocated for the New York Giants to give GM Joe Schoen a shot at his own quarterback because the position is so unbelievably valuable. Their woes the last two seasons stemmed from placing faith in Daniel Jones. The lack of fight on Sundays, however, is undeniably concerning.

Somehow, they’ve got to find what Quinn has cultivated, find what Brian Daboll had cooking in his first season as the head coach.

Life in the NFC East won’t get any easier.

The Giants, Eagles and Cowboys all have to deal with Washington (and Daniels) twice a year for a very long time.

No Huddle

• Patrick Mahomes suffered a bad ankle sprain against Cleveland. Six days later, there he was running in for a touchdown at Arrowhead against the Houston Texans. Turns out, Andy Reid will not force his quarterback to sit and this is a matter of pain management. The Chiefs clearly value a No. 1 seed and it’s hard to blame them with the Buffalo Bills nipping at their heels. Arrowhead is a different world in January.

• Joe Burrow continues to play out of his mind. His latest feat? A TD pass while falling to the ground. They’re still two games behind Denver for the AFC’s final wild card spot but they’ll face those Broncos this week. According to the New York Times playoff calculator, Cincinnati has an 11 percent chance of making the postseason. If the Bengals beat Denver, then Pittsburgh in Week 18, their odds only improve to 22 percent. That’s because they also need the Broncos to lose to KC in Week 18, the Colts (at Giants, Jags) to lose once and the Dolphins (at Browns, at Jets) to lose once. Not impossible. But it’s still looking like the Bengals will be left wondering What could’ve been… after so many crushing defeats due to a porous defense.

• The move to Michael Penix Jr. paid off for Atlanta. They blasted the hapless Giants thanks to a pair of pick-sixes, but the rookie quarterback was efficient. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 202 yards. His interception was the result of a horrible Kyle Pitts drop, and the Falcons had at least two other drops. Head coach Raheem Morris said afterward that Penix “played almost flawless football.” With Tampa Bay losing to Dallas, the Falcons (8-7) are back to controlling their destiny in the NFC South. Now, they’ve got to travel to the surging Washington Commanders. If the Falcons are a serious team, they’ve got to take Washington deep into the fourth quarter.

• Bryce Young is starting to look more and more like a No. 1 overall pick. He’s completing passes while getting tattooed in the pocket, and check out this pinpoint accuracy on a touchdown pass to David Moore. Confidence is soaring. And, finally, he was rewarded for his play. The Panthers knocked Arizona out of the playoffs with a 36-30 overtime win.

• Detroit is in survival mode on defense. It wasn’t always pretty in Chicago, but there’s still a nucleus of playmakers capable of stealing possessions. That’s all they really need, too, with how Jared Goff’s performing. Brian Branch (10 solo tackles), Amik Robertson (2 PBU), Ifeatu Melifonwu (sack) and Al-Quandin Muhammad (sack) made plays and Za’Darius Smith still shows bursts of what he’s been off the edge. Five different players hit Caleb Williams. Dan Campbell made it clear that all he cares about is the bottom line. They’ll take a 34-17 win and run.

• This just may be Sam Darnold’s best throw yet as the Vikings quarterback. Minnesota won at Seattle, 27-24, with Darnold throwing multiple touchdowns for the 10th time this season. The third was a thing of beauty. With less than four minutes left, Darnold stepped up in the pocket to rocket-launch one up the left sideline to Justin Jefferson before getting sandwiched himself. Darnold proved again that he’s no robot. On that game-winning drive, Kevin O’Connell’s headset malfunctioned and Darnold improvised by calling his own number on a scramble. Right now, the Vikings are the healthiest and most complete team in the NFC. None of it’s an accident, either.

ICYMI:

SKOL! How old-school principles are fueling the 2024 Minnesota Vikings