Why the freak out?

On Thursday the 25th of April, the Washington Commanders have a huge decision to make.

The Commanders are sitting at the number two spot in the NFL Draft and UKHTTC founder Christian Burt offers some thoughts on an unusual week in Washington.

With a quarterback room that currently consists of Marcus Mariota and Jake Fromm, it is pretty nailed on that the Commanders will be selecting a QB with the second pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

My guess is that, despite Topgolf group meetings and any other shenanigans involving agents tweets, GM Adam Peters already knows the name of the guy who will be starting under centre, and it’ll be with long-term success in mind, rather than any shortcuts to a winning franchise in D.C.

Like many a fan, I have flip-flopped between the two guys who will be most in contention; Drake Maye of North Carolina, and the 2023 Heisman Trophy Award winner, Jayden Daniels.

To the left, a guy who was a five-star recruit out of High School with an athletic size that is as prototype for an NFL QB as you could get in 2024. Drake Maye, it seems, has some accuracy and footwork issues; but surely, they are very coachable fixes, and the obvious arm and scramble ability will make Maye a very difficult option to pass under centre. Maye seems born to play as a high-calibre QB in the National Football League.

To the right, a guy who many an observer believes is the clear QB 1b to Caleb Williams’ 1a in the NFL draft. Jayden Daniels is a super-athletic dual-threat QB who would almost certainly have the more immediate impact in 2024 in comparison to Maye.

However, there are some concerns around the intermediate throws from Daniels and on occasion, a tendency to run from a clean pocket a little too prematurely. Daniels has got better and better each year of College football.

Surprisingly, or maybe that’s naivety on my part, the Commanders fanbase has seemingly split into two distinctive groups – Team Maye or Team Daniels.

This is slightly wasted energy, especially if this equates to being downbeat when your guy’s name isn’t called.

In some quarters, both media and fanbase, there was a negative reaction to the Topgolf event. This trip included not only the attendance of Maye and Daniels, but also the likely fourth and fifth ranked QB rookies, JJ McCarthy and Michael Penix Jnr.

Is it being forgotten that three of the four QBs will not be drafted by Washington? So why not get familiar with those who you will likely be coming up against potentially across a decade.

I am convinced that Washington have their guy firmly in mind, but a group-type exercise is yet another example of Josh Harris wanting to take the opportunity for any competitive edge that presents itself. In fact, rather than a competition as such, it could be argued that the Washington GM wanted to see how their already chosen rookie QB operates around others?

They are ready to sign off on their guy and this was one last look before Thursday.

Here at UKHTTC, the off-season has already demonstrated the adults are in the room and have the skillset, process ability and confidence to do what is best for the Washington Commanders not only for 2024, but also very much beyond next season.

It is time to fully welcome in a new dawn for the burgundy & gold, let’s get behind this exciting new QB addition, whether it be Maye or Daniels, and perhaps halt a little of the overdramatic outpouring on social media.