Last March, the Washington Commanders signed free-agent quarterback and former Oregon Duck Marcus Mariota to a one-year, $6 million contract. At the time, the move was viewed as adding experience to a questionable quarterback room. That notion was further supported when the Commanders drafted former LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels with the second pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
The consensus around the league was that Daniels would be the starter and Mariota would be a mentor/backup, something he has experienced in his career. After a starting role with Tennessee from 2016 to 2018 in which he posted three winning seasons, he was replaced as starter by Ryan Tannehill midway through the 2019 season. From there, Mariota was a backup for the Las Vegas Raiders for two years, starter in Atlanta for most of 2022 and spent last year with the Philadelphia Eagles as their backup.
While many veteran quarterbacks have issues with a role that includes mentoring a rookie signal-caller, Mariota sees the silver lining in the situation.
"I think competition makes everybody better,” Mariota said. “Regardless of who is the starter day one, I checked my ego a long time ago, and I really believe that when you have a healthy quarterback room that's really just trying to compete and make each other better, you're going to eventually get everybody in that room to play at their best level. So regardless of who's a starter week one, I'm going to do everything I can to be the best version of myself and also bring out the best out of my teammates.”
While there did not seem to be any quarterback controversy in the Commanders camp, NFL writer Zachery Rogers from Last Word on Sports decided to stir the pot in advance of training camp a couple of months down the road.
“Starting Jayden Daniels Week 1 may be the move Washington fans are looking for, but it wouldn’t be the right one,” Rogers wrote. “Week one the franchise should start Marcus Mariota because of his veteran experience. His numbers may not jump off the page but last year, he played three games where he threw 15-of-23 with a 59.9 completion rating. Daniels will be the future starting QB, but the team shouldn’t rush to put him on the field.”
While Rogers is entitled to his opinion and there are others who question throwing a rookie quarterback into the fire, the Commanders did not use a No. 2 pick to see the player sit on the bench. Talent wise, Daniels’ may be viewed as a superior athlete, but his teammates have been impressed by what Daniels has achieved so far regarding offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s playbook. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin was shocked and excited about it.
"By the time the rookies got there, we pretty much had four or five installs in," McLaurin said. "And I think Kliff did a great job of trying to integrate everybody at the same time. So, when the rookies got there, we started from ground one. But it seemed like Jayden knew the entire offense when we got there."
Whether or not Rogers’ story gains any traction, this is a likely topic of conversation into training camp and perhaps even pre-season games or until new head coach Dan Quinn announces a starting quarterback. From Mariota’s point of view, it is all about competition and making the team better, something he accomplished during his time as an Oregon Duck quarterback.
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MARK LANTZ
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