Commanders QB Jayden Daniels 'In Position to Win' Rookie of the Year Award

Jayden Daniels has had a strong start to his career and is definitely in line to win one of the league's top awards according to one of his more veteran teammates.

Despite missing almost all of last week's game with a rib injury, Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels still ranks third among quarterbacks this season in fantasy points per game. He faces fellow rookie QB Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears this week. / Patrick Breen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In a lot of ways, Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has had the worst two games of his young career these past two weeks.

On top of losing to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers before them, the Commanders' rookie has been fighting to come back from a rib injury and playing in his first cold snap as a professional - and we're not talking about the weather, though that's been cold too.

Washington coach Dan Quinn says his quarterback is healthy and after a full week of practice should be able to get back to normal, more or less. If that happens then Daniels should be able to resume his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, a race he's still leading in despite the recent dip in production.

Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler says Jayden Daniels is the front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year. / Air It Out/WhistleSports/DAZN

"Jayden's definitely putting himself in a position to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year," Commanders running back Austin Ekeler said during a recent appearance on Air It Out with AJ Greene and Justin Pugh. "Obviously we have this back half, this back quarter - third of the season left where a lot of stuff can change, but I think we're in a position where we're going to be continuing to help him."

The program, hosted by two former NFL players, airs on the Whistle Sports YouTube channel and is owned by DAZN - the global sports streaming service that offers live and on-demand sports coverage in over 200 countries. The channel features interviews with current and former players like Ekeler who supported his own quarterback for the award but also got real about the team needing to get better the deeper they get into the back half of the regular season.

"We're only looking to get better coming down this back stretch," he continued. "We're playing meaningful football in November and hopefully going into December. And as long as we're continuing to play meaningful football, I think yeah, Jayden's definitely the front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Ekeler, who played with Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert during his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, knows the level of play needed to win the award and the importance of the team around him in trying to secure it.

He also acknowledged Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix who has been making a push to get into the conversation as well as No. 1 overall pick Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has faded.

With six games left the race is far from finished so Daniels is going to need some strong performances to lock up the award. A win over the Dallas Cowboys this weekend would go a long way.

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