Insider adds more fire to rumored Commanders surprise with No. 2 pick

With the Chicago Bears almost certainly taking USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, all eyes are on the Washington Commanders and what they could do with the No. 2 overall pick. The growing expectation is that they will take their preference between LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with that No. 2 selection.

However, ESPN's Adam Schefter seems to be a tad more confident in that Washington will take Daniels at No. 2 over Maye. He mentioned what he thinks will happen one-two-three in the draft. Schefter has Williams going first to Chicago, Daniels second to Washington and Maye third to the New England Patriots. That leaves Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy up for grabs at No. 4 or so.

Schefter's feelings on the matter aren't anything new, other than it coming from him and who he is as an NFL insider. His intel carries a ton of weight in the matter. The big thing that I gathered from Schefter's comments about the top three of the draft is that Daniels may want to go play for his former Arizona State coach Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas. The problem is that they are picking 13th...

"I think the signs continue to point to Jayden Daniels being the second overall pick at No. 2 ... Caleb Williams 1, Jayden Daniesl 2, and then the New England Patirots would be on the clock at No. 3 with the possibility of taking Drake Maye."

Here is exactly what Schefter said about the Commanders picking at No. 2 over on his podcast.

Truth be told, Schefter seems to be implementing the same sort of game theory tactics we all pretty much have in picking Daniels over Maye, and even McCarthy. What happens if he shines elsewhere?

Adam Schefter connects Jayden Daniels to Washington Commanders

If you are Washington head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters, you cannot expect for the D.C. native Williams to fall to you at No. 2. If he does, you take him, no questions asked. To me, Washington is absolutely taking a quarterback. Quinn was there in Atlanta during the back-end of Matt Ryan's prime, so he knows all too well how important getting that position right in a given year.

Peters comes over from San Francisco, a place better known for liking Five Guys Around 3, only to end up with Trey Lance in a truly terrible quarterback draft. Fate would have it that the San Francisco brass lucked into Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy a year later. We could not possibly be happier for them. For as much as I think Maye checks a lot of the boxes Ryan did in Atlanta, Daniels has to be the pick.

This is because you get the high ceiling of Maye without as deep of a floor. The other big factor is Daniels seems to be a better fit in the type of offense Kliff Kingsbury will want to run in Washington. All of his former quarterbacks, from Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, to Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, to Kyler Murray at Arizona, could all run pretty well in addition to throwing the football down the field.

Ultimately, the juice is worth the squeeze more for Daniels at No. 2 than it is for Maye. Admittedly, it is not by much, but you don't want to end up drafting Sam Bowie or Darko Milicic at No. 2 in between Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan or between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Daniels has some bust potential, but probably not to the degree of Maye, who has the most variance in the draft.

Even if he isn't a superstar for them, you can sleep well at night taking Daniels over Maye at No. 2.