Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams and Contrasting Fortunes after the 2024 Draft

Both teams craved a quarterback to kickstart a new era, and despite some debate on what the order would be, both walked away happy by drafting a pair of Heisman Trophy winners. As we know, the Bears took 2022 winner Caleb Williams, whereas the Commanders took Jayden Daniels, pleasing both fanbases.

Of course, as we also know, both of the young quarterbacks were fundamentally thrown into the deep end of the NFL in their rookie seasons. Both men started all 17 regular season games for their respective teams. Yet, that is where the similarities end.

Daniels had one of the greatest rookie seasons

Daniels, as has been well-documented, had the kind of season that most rookies could only dream of. He broke several league and franchise records as a rookie quarterback, became a lock in the betting for Rookie of the Year by the mid-point of the season, and took the Commanders on that improbable Playoff run to the NFC Championship Game. While it’s up for debate, some are saying he has just completed the greatest rookie season in NFL history.

As for Williams, it hasn’t been a disaster, but there has been a sense of a harsh dose of reality. The No.1 Draft pick started the season okay – as did the Bears – but both he and his team went on a woeful slide across the late fall and into the winter. While he started every game for the Bears, he was sacked 68 times – the 3rd most in NFL history. The Bears fans are quite frustrated at the moment, not least because the season looked full of promise in September. Williams has taken quite a lot of the flak already, which is somewhat unfair for a young player.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to see the contrasting fortunes of the two players. It is much too simple to say that it is a case of Daniels acclimatizing to the NFL and Williams not being able to do so. What if, for instance, the draft picks were reversed? Daniels has been incredible thus far for the Commanders, but he isn’t the only reason for their success. If he had been put into a Bears team that has numerous problems, there’s a fair chance we wouldn’t be talking about the NFL’s next big star as we do today.

Williams had pressure heaped on him

A word, though, on Williams. As mentioned, he has not been bad. He’s made plenty of mistakes, and the sacking statistic is one he will want to consign to the dustbin of history pretty soon. Yet, he was thrust into a situation where expectations were high. By early October, when the Bears had gone 4-2, everyone was talking about the Playoffs. Ten straight losses after that put to bed any notion of that. The expectation weighed heavy on Williams’ shoulders, and it was a lot for a young player to deal with.

For Daniels, it feels like the opposite occurred. The Commanders rode a wave, but the team relished being the underdogs. Most expected their run to falter earlier than it did, so there was always a sense of having nothing to lose. That’s the way Daniels and his team played, and they reaped the rewards. It was probably summed up by the “Hail Maryland” game against the Bears in late October. A game that was won with a wonderful Daniels pass with seconds remaining.

The Hail Mayland game shows what mere seconds can do. If Daniels had not made the pass, the Bears would have won the game, and Williams would be playing for a team with a 5-2 record and a sense of momentum. Maybe the Bears would have still gone on that awful run afterward, but there are fine margins in football, and the confidence of young players can be brittle.

In the end, we should not rush to judge either player. Bears fans calling for changes after this one season with Williams as the starting quarterback are being short-sighted. The NFL is littered with success stories of quarterbacks who initially struggled in their debut seasons – Jared Goff springs to mind. As for Daniels, it’s been an amazing start. But football careers can take twists and turns, and Commanders fans would do well to keep that in mind.