Jayden Daniels makes feelings known about successful rookie season - "It’s a whole new year now"

Jayden Daniels' excellent rookie season brought much-needed hope for Washington Commanders fans. The young quarterback dominated right out of the gate, with 31 total touchdowns, and the franchise had its best season since 1991, reaching the NFC championship game before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.

2025, however, is a new year. His excellent play won't matter if he doesn't repeat in the upcoming season, especially as the Commanders already know his potential. Luckily for him, the young quarterback seems to have the right mindset for the situation.

With Jon Gruden on the former coach's show, "Gruden Goes Long," Daniels spoke about 2024 being an excellent year, but his focus has switched to improvements in 2025.

“You’re always trying to find little ways to get better," Daniels said. "For me, it’s like, ‘Last year was last year. That’s great.’ But it’s a whole new year now. I still got to go out there, I’ve gotta prove myself to my teammates, the organization, each and every day that I’m getting better."

He talked about technical aspects that he wants to improve in his second season:

"When it’s time to prepare and when those games come, I’ve got to know that, ‘Hey, how can I eliminate some tendencies?’ Stuff like that, because that’s the big thing. Coaches are always trying to find tendencies of what this player is going to do so they can anticipate and hopefully get you in that situation.”

With a likely long career yet to come, Daniels' improvements can only bring excitement for Commanders fans. He had 69% of completed passes in his rookie year, the sixth-highest mark in the NFL, and threw just nine interceptions in 17 games.

Commanders with two major additions to help Jayden Daniels in his second year

Washington was close to a Super Bowl berth in 2024, but the 55-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the conference championship game proved that there was still a way to go.

However, general manager Adam Peters made two great moves to improve the offense around the young quarterback and correct the course for 2025.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel arrived from the San Francisco 49ers for a fifth-round pick, giving more offensive weapons for the team. Daniels' blind side was also taken care of, with a mega trade for star left tackle Laremy Tunsil finished during free agency.

The Washington Commanders hold the 29th pick in the 2025 NFL draft.