Washington Commanders QB falls behind a rival in NFL.com’s QB re-rank

The debate over which quarterback the Washington Commanders should draft raged on through winter and into early spring of 2024. It was like a political race, with two candidates taking center stage and a few outliers with smaller followings and even smaller chances of being the name picked at the end.

When the time came, Jayden Daniels was the name the Commanders selected, drafting the quarterback out of LSU to lead the franchise out of the darkest era in its existence and into this new age of enlightenment.

Now, through the benefit of recency bias and perfect lens of hindsight, NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks has cast his vote for which quarterback has been the best through one season and seven weeks, leaving those who still hold a candle for Drake Maye screaming, ‘Stop The Count!’

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) fires the ball downfield during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Maye has captivated the football world with a spectacular start to his second season, spawning conversation that he could soon join the big four at quarterback (Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow). Obviously, the 23-year-old needs to keep this up in order to reach such rarefied air, but he has made a quantum leap under the direction of new head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels,” Brooks says of Maye, his No. 1 2024 draft pick so far. “Through the first seven weeks of the season, Maye leads the NFL with a 75.2 percent completion rate, while also posting sparkling figures in TD-to-INT ratio (12:2), yards per attempt (8.6) and passer rating (116.4). He’s been staggeringly effective downfield, too, boasting a perfect 158.3 passer rating on throws of 20-plus air yards. (That’s ridiculous.) With the 5-2 Patriots sitting alone atop the AFC East, Maye has entered the MVP discussion and surpassed his peers as the QB1 of a stacked 2024 crop at the position.”

Of course, this time last season, as a rookie, Daniels was getting MVP whispers as well, though some seem to have forgotten about that, erasing it from memory.

Daniels didn’t fall too far out of Brooks’ memory, though, coming in No. 2, one spot behind Maye.

Oct 5, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates after a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

“In a “What have you done for me lately?” league, Daniels has lost his grip on the No. 1 spot in this class. Despite running away with the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year award and guiding the Commanders to an improbable NFC Championship Game appearance, Washington’s regression in 2025 and Daniels’ injury-marred sophomore season make him the runner-up in this re-do. But don’t get it twisted: I’m still extremely high on this polished dual threat,” says Brooks. “The electric running ability and deft touch with the football drop your jaw, but his preternatural calm might be the most striking quality. No moment is too big for the 24-year-old, which bodes quite well for a franchise that hasn’t enjoyed much success in the past 30 years. Now the 3-4 Commanders just need that hamstring to heal.”

Here, we feel Brooks may be off the mark just a bit. It isn’t a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league as much as it is a media environment and even a fan base, to a certain extent.

Because when Daniels is on the field, it’s still abundantly clear the kind of special talent he is, and the threat of a few games missed here or there due to relatively minor injuries doesn’t erase that for those who see the big picture.

Of course, Chicago Bears fans hoping to prop their team’s selection in the draft will be unhappy to see that quarterback Caleb Williams hits the list as the No. 7 player, behind others like Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and offensive tackle Joe Alt.

The rankings mean nothing more than a progress report, and are clearly weighed much heavily on what has happened so far in 2025 than the totality of each player’s so-far brief NFL careers.

To that end, veteran backup Marcus Mariota will look to lead an upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend for the Commanders, getting the team back to .500 and right back into the conversation of teams very much in the hunt for a playoff spot, still months away from anyone finalizing their postseason plans.

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