Jayden Daniels is expected to be the second overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night but there are questions whether the team making the selection could be the Washington Commanders or a different team such as the Minnesota Vikings.
During an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Saturday morning, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said Daniels is “unsure” of playing for the Commanders and is “intrigued” by playing for the Vikings.
“At this point, it does feel like there is some smoke here that’s sort of undeniable,” Fowler said. “I spoke to somebody who is involved in Daniels’s process who openly does wonder, ‘Is Daniels looking at his options right now?'”
Daniels’s pre-draft process has been interesting as the reigning Heisman Trophy winner has met with the Vikings and Commanders in the weeks leading up to the draft. While the Vikings visited Daniels earlier this week, Daniels was part of a group of quarterbacks during his visit to Washington which seemed to irk the quarterback’s camp.
“Jayden Daniels was not particularly enthralled to be included in a speed-dating group of quarterbacks,” Fellow ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday. “He thought it would be basically by himself. He thought he would be going in there – shortly before the visit found out that Michael Penix Jr. is going there, Drake Maye is going there, J.J. McCarthy is going in. And so the dynamics change.”
While Fowler didn’t rule out that Daniels could want to play in Washington eventually, he also said that the path to the Commanders has been rockier than expected.
“This has not gone as smoothly as it should for a player that is a viable candidate for the No. 2 overall pick,” Fowler said. “It should be sort of clear at this point.”
If Daniels isn’t sold on Washington, several teams could be interested in trading up for his services. Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce has known Daniels since he played at Cajon High School in San Bernardino, Calif., but Fowler noted it could be difficult for the Raiders to move up from the 13th pick to No. 2.
Meanwhile, the Vikings have two first-round picks, Nos. 11 and 23, and have been widely speculated to be interested in trading up to take a quarterback.
If Daniels doesn’t want to play for Washington, there’s not a lot he can do about it. Fowler said people in Washington still expect Daniels to be the pick but there is some discussion on whether he’ll stick with the Commanders.
“Daniels…is a good candidate to be the pick here and that could very well happen, but it’s just a lot of smoke right now,” Fowler said.
