NFL analyst cautions Commanders and Jayden Daniels of C.J. Stroud-like sophomore slump after breakout rookie season 

Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders enjoyed a stellar 2024 season. The rookie quarterback took to the NFL like fish to water and led his team to an incredible run to the NFC Championship Game.

They fell short against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, but the season was earmarked as the start of a special time in Washington.

However, NFL analyst Sam Acho wants to pump the brakes on the hype. On ESPN's NFL Live on Sunday, he pointed out that like Daniels, Houston Texans star C.J. Stroud had an incredible rookie season in 2023 but suffered a sophomore slump last year.

Acho said:

"It's got to be up to Jayden Daniels. It's got to be up to Kliff Kingsbury, the entire coaching staff, to say, 'Hey, Jayden, I understand how excellent we were, but in order to not have that slump like we saw with C.J. Stroud, we're going to work on some of those little things.'"

Acho listed a couple of deficiencies in Daniels' game and added that the young star has to work on those aspects of his game in the offseason:

"Maybe it's being more structured in the pocket. I get it. You love to move around. That's what makes you great. But let's work on being more structured. In case you have a guy who's spying you, maybe little things like that are things that you can do to self scout and get better."

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C.J. Stroud sophomore slump: Could Jayden Daniels suffer a similar fate?

After an incredible rookie season, where he finished with 4,108 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions in only 15 games, C.J. Stroud was handed a reality check in his sophomore year.

He started all 17 games and his numbers suffered a dip across the board. He threw for 3,727 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Injuries to stars like Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs played a role in Stroud's poor performances. However, he didn't look as composed in the pocket as he did in his rookie campaign, threw some erratic passes and was often caught being indecisive, leading to him being sacked 52 times, 14 more than his debut year.

The film Stroud put out in his rookie year was enough for defenses to jot down an effective game plan against him. Daniels will have to work on his deficiencies in the offseason and the Commanders will have to upgrade the talent around him or risk their young quarterback meeting the same fate as the Texans star did last season.