PFT’s 2024 offensive rookie of the year: Jayden Daniels

When Simms and I were interviewing prospects at the Scouting Combine, we asked the defensive prospects to name the best player they faced in college. For the guys from the SEC, the unanimous answer came without hesitation.

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.

In his first season with the Commanders, everyone saw what those players from his conference experienced. Beyond his passing skills, he’s there — and then he’s gone.

And so, for the second straight year, the second overall pick in the draft is the PFT offensive rookie of the year.

Daniels is already a fringe top-10 quarterback in the entire league, and the arrow is going up. He finished 10th in passer rating, with a final number north of 100. He was 10th with 25 touchdown passes, against only nine interceptions. His completion percentage of 69.0 landed sixth among all quarterbacks.

He also led the Commanders to a playoff berth in a year that was supposed to be a rebuilding season, adding 891 rushing yards (a record for rookie quarterbacks) and six touchdowns.

As we close in on inaugurating a new president, Daniels already has been crowned the king of D.C. And there’s no reason to think he won’t keep getting better and better.

Finishing second was Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, who broke both the one-year-old rookie reception record with 112 — and the 63-year-old rookie tight end receiving yardage record with 1,194. And he did it with a revolving door of journeymen at quarterback.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix shattered the franchise record for rookie quarterback wins, more than doubling John Elway’s and Drew Lock’s prior mark of four. And Nix led the Broncos to the playoffs for the first time since Peyton Manning capped his career with a walk-into-the-sunset victory in Super Bowl 50.

Others who merit mention include Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas, Jr. and Giants receiver Malik Nabers. Thomas had 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on only 87 catches, and Nabers managed 109 catches and 1,204 receiving yards despite missing two games with a concussion. Neither were catching passes from top-five quarterbacks.

All four have very bright futures in the NFL. For two of them — Daniels and Nix — there are still chances to shine in the 2024 postseason.