NFL Draft Rumors: Ranking Jayden Daniels’ 10 Combine meetings as potential fits
6. Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are on the verge of a transitional period as a franchise. Pete Carroll stepped down (was fired), with 36-year-old Mike Macdonald set to take over the reins as head coach. The new OC is Ryan Grubb, who built one of college football's most explosive offenses last season around Michael Penix Jr. Maybe that is a not-so-subtle signal for where Seattle should allocate its QB resources on draft night.
Daniels, again, is a day-one starter type. Geno Smith is set to stick around next season, so Daniels would be starting his NFL career in the passenger seat. That's not necessarily bad, but for a consensus top-10 prospect (and top-3 at the QB position), it's an undesired hurdle. The Seahawks have an excellent supporting cast, though. The three-man WR corps of DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba could make life easy for Daniels once he comes into the starting role.
This is a quality landing spot, but Daniels is the type of player most teams should want. We are splitting hairs.
5. Las Vegas Raiders
Aidan O'Connell was fun while he lasted, but the Las Vegas Raiders would hand the keys over to Daniels in a heartbeat. Las Vegas showed legitimate signs of life late last season after the coaching switch to Antonio Pierce. With Davante Adams entrenched atop the WR depth chart, Daniels would have the luxury of learning the NFL ropes alongside one of the best pass-catchers in modern NFL history. That's like walking into your first college exam with the answer key.
The Raiders' defense competes with a ravenous intensity. Pierce has built an organizational culture that actually reflects the great Raider teams of old. Dudes want to play hard for him. The talent base is there for Daniels. Josh Jacobs' uncertain future is a dark cloud hanging over the organization, but Adams and Jakobi Meyers are a potent duo at WR. New OC Luke Getsy arrives in Vegas with a... complicated reputation, but he's intimately familiar with dual-threat QBs after working hand-in-hand with Justin Fields in Chicago. So, it's a strong schematic fit.