Daniels becomes latest QB of the future in DC (2024)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASHBURN, Va. — Jayden Daniels is confident he can start in the NFL.

Just not this minute.

“Man, I don’t know the playbook, so I’m not prepared right now,” he said.

Give it time, learn the playbook and Daniels might be Washington’s quarterback of the future. That’s certainly what ownership, the front office and coaching staff think after taking the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU with the second pick in the draft, and now Daniels is the latest hope to be the long-term solution at the position that has eluded the organization for longer than he has been alive.

General manager Adam Peters thinks Daniels’ journey has prepared him for what it takes to be a franchise QB. Daniels, for his part, said he doesn’t feel any pressure in that after what he has been through in life, on and off the field.

“Football is fun,” Daniels said at his introductory news conference Friday. “It’s a getaway from everyday life. That’s how I treat it. That’s how I approach each and every day.”

Washington has had 20 different starting quarterbacks in the nearly two decades since its most recent victory in a playoff game. When either Daniels or veteran Marcus Mariota runs on to the field in September, he will be the team’s eighth different Week 1 starter in as many seasons.

No one is committing to that being Daniels quite yet, fresh off the plane from the draft in Detroit.

Controlling owner Josh Harris deferred to Peters and new coach Dan Quinn, and the football operations brain trust isn’t going that far, especially in late April.

“We’ll let that all the way play out,” Quinn said, citing what he believes to be a strong QB group of Daniels, Mariota and journeyman Jeff Driskel. “The expectation for us is putting out the most competitive team that we can. When that time comes, when he’s ready, then that’s when we’ll do it. But there’s no timeline on that.”

Bears’ Williams knows attention is on him

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams seemed unfazed by it all.

The former Southern California star was ready to embrace the attention after the Chicago Bears grabbed him with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. The prized quarterback knows all eyes are on him in a city craving a consistent winner. And to that, Williams said bring it on.

“I’m always going to have scrutiny,” he said at a news conference Friday, a day after the Bears drafted him. “I do things like paint my nails. I’m always going to have scrutiny over that. I wear funky clothes, things like that. So you know. Just do my job on the football field and win games. I think if you win a bunch of games here, you’ll make a lot of people, the majority, happy.”

The Bears have just three playoff appearances since the 2006 team advanced to the Super Bowl. And in two of them, they failed to advance. Chicago’s lone Super Bowl champion remains the 1985 team, but there’s certainly a buzz blowing through the Windy City.

The Bears look like they might be ready to turn a corner, after going a combined 10-24 in their first two seasons under general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus.

Chicago acquired six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers, giving it another top receiver to go with DJ Moore. The Bears added another potential playmaker at the position when they drafted All-American Rome Odunze of Washington at No. 9. But above all else, they think they have their franchise quarterback.

Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, has made no attempts to temper expectations. He said recently on The Pivot Podcast that he’s chasing Tom Brady’s record seven Super Bowl wins.

Penix Jr. hears from Cousins, Vick after surprise pick

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Michael Penix Jr., the biggest surprise of the NFL draft’s first round, received a congratulatory call from Kirk Cousins on Thursday night even as Cousins’ agent was second-guessing the Atlanta Falcons adding depth to their quarterback spot.

Penix described the chat with Cousins as “a very good conversation,” but would not say what was discussed.

Penix may have been more excited by Friday’s text message from another left-handed Falcons quarterback named Michael. In his first news conference in Atlanta after he was the No. 8 overall draft pick by the Falcons, Penix beamed when talking about his text from Michael Vick.

“I definitely watched him,” said Penix of Vick, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft who played with the Falcons through 2006 before his career was interrupted by dog-fighting charges and a prison term.

“He was my favorite quarterback,” Penix said. “I had the Vick cleats and all as a kid. ... I’m glad I’m old enough to have been able to see that era.”

Penix watched the draft at his Florida home. A large group of family members, including his parents, accompanied Penix on Friday’s flight to the Falcons’ practice facility.

Penix cautioned Falcons fans to not expect him to share the dynamic Vick’s speed as a runner.

BrieflyGUARDIAN: The NFL says will allow players to wear protective soft-shell helmet covers known as Guardian caps during games next season if they choose. The league is also expanding the use of the devices during practices. Defensive backs and receivers have joined the position groups now required to wear the caps during all contact practices.

OBIT: Korey Cunningham, an offensive lineman who played for three NFL teams during a five-year career, has died. He was 28. Police say Cunningham was found dead Thursday in his Clifton, New Jersey, home.