The Commanders have signed Marcus Mariota to a one year deal, does this make you feel better in case Jayden Daniels gets injured?
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00:00But let's get into the real news and that is free agent quarterback Marcus Mariota back to D.C.
00:05A one year deal. We don't have terms yet. Looking forward to seeing what those look like.
00:09But Mariota wanted to test the market. And I totally get it. There were a few landing spots
00:14where if he would have gotten there he probably could have started games this year. Maybe even
00:19right away in week one. I think the gig that everybody was looking for in that bridge quarterback
00:24tier was the Colts job. Anthony Richardson at one point last year asking out of a game.
00:30Teammates in the locker room kind of turning on him it seemed like after that and his coaching
00:34staff maybe even deciding in that moment I'm not really sure if this is going where we need it to.
00:39In addition to the fact that he just hasn't played very well and he's been hurt a lot over the last
00:43couple of years. So there is a very clear path a runway that is wide open for you to taking that
00:49job from him. But Daniel Jones at 14 million who has won a playoff game for the Giants who has had
00:55one really good season over the last three or four years got the gig. Marcus Mariota did not.
01:01And so if you're Marcus and you start looking around and you're going OK I look the Raiders
01:06is a place maybe I could go compete and then somebody ends up there and then you go with
01:10the Colts would be nice. I could start there and then a quarterbacks landed there. Now you're
01:15looking to be in a backup again. If you're going to be a backup you like it here. You know Jaden
01:21Daniels. Well it's a comfortable situation. The coaching staff loves you. Kingsbury sings
01:26your praises. Why go learn a new offense. Yeah I think he was super comfortable here and I think
01:31I was wrong when they acquired him to be the backup quarterback. You know I think we kind of
01:35knew then there was going to be Jaden Daniels. It's just you know the styles match. You could
01:39have him mentor him and kind of help him along. But I did not think that he was going to be someone
01:45that was going to be as good a mentor as he was for Jaden. I did not think you know we watched
01:50that quarterback series on Netflix and he quit on the Falcons you know at the end of the season when
01:55he was no longer the starting quarterback. And normally when you do something like that you
01:59don't just immediately get a redemption tour but he did a really good job of coming in here
02:04and he played well to grant which is obviously a huge part of this and he was able to step in
02:08and you know some of the games where he Jaden didn't play well or Jaden got injured. Marcus
02:12stepped in and played probably better than Jaden did. He was phenomenal. The last time we saw him
02:17was the Cowboys. His numbers if you look back that's Daniels in a good half 15 of 18 for a
02:23buck 60 and two touchdowns without turning the ball over. And if you remember he had that like
02:2830 yard run on a fourth and a foot or two to set up a first and goal for them to put the game
02:35back in reach where they scored the game winning touchdown. He threw it to McLaurin
02:39in the closing seconds. That was Daniels making that play with his feet and making that throw to
02:44Terry at the end of the game all year long. And it's how he became a folk hero in this town. Yeah
02:48well the one time they needed to do it without Jaden they still did it. Which I think speaks to
02:53Cliff. It speaks to the offense. Everyone around him. Like everyone acted like Jaden Daniels was
02:57just Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill. How does anyone ever move one yard in this offense?
03:03They all can't walk and put pants on and chew gum. Bunch of losers. Thank God for Jaden Daniels.
03:08Yes Daniels is great. Also can you give him a little bit of credit please? When he wasn't in
03:13there Mario to lit up the Panthers. They scored 40 and he lit up the Cowboys. Yeah and I think
03:18when you look at that Panthers game you know we talked about this with that Eagles game where
03:22Jalen Hurts was out and we're talking about the legitimacy of the win and did it count or not.
03:27Obviously the Eagles are much better team than Carolina but Washington went without their
03:31quarterback and still hung 40. Right like so you know there's still ways to go around it and do
03:35things so it was really impressive that when he went out you didn't feel like the offense fell off
03:41hugely. You know that Mariota could execute still and that's something that's really nice to have
03:46and on top of that the thing that really pushed me over the top in favor of Mariota is the clip
03:50from the Falcons game where in overtime Jaden's keeled over and the thing about that is Jaden's
03:57fine. He knows he's fine but the important part of this and I think Mariota understood it is I need
04:02the other 52 people on the team to know you're fine because if I'm Sam Cosme at right guard if I
04:07know you're fine oh we're gonna win this game. Maybe not even just your own team but the opponent
04:12is exactly doubled over. For people that don't remember the clip Daniels it was when he was in
04:17hero mode so he's putting the team on his back and he's doing this high school football bit like
04:22he's playing in West Texas and dad's watching for the first time in a few years because he had he's
04:27been traveling you know yeah but now he's here so I gotta show him how good I am. So Jaden was out
04:31there and he's just doing this thing where like Cliff called the play that's funny I'm getting
04:35the ball and I'm running left and then I'm running right and then I'm running left and I've honestly
04:39at the NFL level really haven't seen anything like that in terms of the play has never mattered less.
04:44This is just straight up backyard football at this point in overtime and Daniels is just doing
04:49some like Lamar Jackson wacky where I'm going to the goal line if you guys want to go down there
04:53too you can but that's where I'm going to be and so he gets clobbered trying to get in and he's
05:00they call timeout I'm sure he lost his breath or whatever and he's just gassed but he's doubled
05:05over like on a knee as if he looks spent and Mariota comes over and he just kind of very calmly
05:12and quietly in his ear and to your point Toby it's kind of the opposite of what you would have imagined
05:17for a guy that we saw all saw on that Netflix series quarterback just walked out on a team
05:22and quit and he seemed like a bad guy. Yeah I mean he just randomly disappeared for the last couple
05:26episodes like they're finishing week 16 17 18 and Mariota's gone and he did that to the team he
05:32basically said like I'm gone see you guys later yeah because he'd been benched and how dare I sit
05:37here and watch Desmond Ritter play I'm not going to watch that loser I'm going to go hang out with
05:41my baby and my kid and my wife so anyway so he comes out onto the field and he's like tapping
05:46Jade and he's like stand up get your breath like go back in there you got this and it was just this
05:51little pep talk that if Dan Quinn said it he's yelling that's fine but a quarterback who's one
05:57of Heisman who's gone number two overall who was you at one point correct never quite as talented
06:02as Jade and Daniels so you take the faders from Daniels and you turn them all down a little bit
06:07whereas Daniels had 50 touchdowns in the sec nobody's ever done that he ran for a thousand
06:11yards Marcus Mariota was a dude people sleep a little bit go back and watch the tape at Oregon
06:16go back and watch highlights of him with the ducks he was a badass and before Jaden went to
06:21as a Heisman trophy winner he did and I do think because of that when he is talking with Jaden in
06:27the room it probably matters a little more yeah I think so I mean that's the thing is you bring in a
06:31guy that is essentially Jaden before Jaden like you said not nearly as talented as a passer but
06:36as a runner he's really good similar play styles number two overall picks expected to kind of turn
06:41over a franchise that wasn't very good before they got there obviously didn't work for Mariota in
06:46Tennessee but even had some good moments there right you remember the play that he had when he
06:50threw the ball or what was it exactly did it get batted up and then he caught it and ran it in for
06:54a touchdown playoff game like he's had some good moments as well but to see that leadership and
06:59like you said you know when you talk about coaches they talk about this all the time for good
07:03football teams it's player-led right you have to have the buy-in from the players and those guys
07:07kind of helping each other when you have a guy like Mariota who's gone through what Jaden has
07:12gone through obviously not nearly as successfully but it means a little more because there's not
07:18many guys you can bring in like they had Jeff Driscoll Jeff Driscoll can't relate to what
07:22Jaden's going through where he's got everything on his shoulders trying to fix the team here's
07:26what they have in common they're both quarterbacks and they're both kind of in the NFL exactly you
07:31know yeah and so having Mariota there to say hey man I've gone through this this is what I learned
07:37this is how I can help and I think the good part was you can tell just by the interaction Mariota's
07:42not pushing it he's going to let Jaden do his thing when he feels like he needs to step in
07:46he understands that he's a better football player than him he understands that so he's not going to
07:50say hey do this do this do this I just helping out this to me is a sneaky big deal like we joke
07:56that it's not on the Danny Ruyeh missing work threshold of a bombshell but I do think this is
08:01significant for two reasons one they needed a backup quarterback if he left and that means
08:07someone's got to come in here obviously and learn an offense right but on top of that I know
08:13Daniels proved durable last season and that was amazing I am not ready as I sit here today on
08:18March 12th 25 to tell you that I fully expect Jaden Daniels to be a durable quarterback after
08:25watching how he plays last year I think it is stunning that he played in every single game I
08:31think I would take the under on 16 and a half most seasons for him and maybe hopefully it's 15
08:38or 16 and it's a concussion protocol or you know sore ribs here or there the fact that he played
08:44through what we now think was probably a broken rib or a cracked rib or whatever he probably should
08:50have missed a game or two it's actually strange looking back that he didn't it's a little bit
08:55odd to me that they didn't have him sit against the Chicago Bears and he ended up in that game
09:01obviously throwing the Hail Mary to win it so it's a pretty good thing that they didn't but there
09:04was a stretch there where he was not Jaden Daniels like there was that month where he was playing at
09:10a lesser level where he was very pedestrian and it probably cost him a chance at the MVP if we're
09:15being honest because let's face it Tobes if he played those few games like he had the rest of
09:21the year I think he squarely would have been in the most valuable player conversation and Washington
09:25probably would have even had a better record but your backup's probably going to play and the way
09:31Mario had played is the second part here he was amazing yes he was 33 of 41 four touchdowns no
09:38picks completed 80 of passes and he provided playmaking with his legs yeah and I think you
09:44know the the nice part is when you make a guy like Mariota your backup when you have Jaden as a
09:48quarterback too it makes it easier on Cliff he doesn't have to change the offense there are some
09:53aspects of Mariota that he's not going to be able to replicate Jaden obviously they ran the same
09:57stuff but they run the exact same stuff and if anything you almost feel more comfortable you
10:01don't want to go to your third quarterback but having that third guy you almost feel more
10:05comfortable running some of those quarterback powers and stuff you're like you know what if
10:08this guy goes down we have another guy we can step in but we can be a little more aggressive in some
10:13ways with that so they're not having to change anything major versus you know if you had someone
10:18back there like you know Colt McCoy for years you'd have to change things up a little bit he's
10:22gonna play a little more from the pocket versus having Mariota step in it's seamless not only for
10:28you know Mariota stepping into Jaden's shoes there in the field but it's easier for Cliff
10:32the offense doesn't have to change everybody else so it's it's kind of a nice way to have
10:36where that backup just steps in and for him to play at the level that he did you almost you know
10:41a lot of times when the backup steps in you're like oh no but with Mariota I was like okay we're
10:46still good yeah you didn't feel that way and that's the greatest compliment I think you can
10:49give a backup quarterback I also think that your QB too just matters more when you've got
10:55a QB that is one of the leaders in the league in Russia
11:05near the weight of Daniels which I think he partially put to bed last season although
11:09I think even that's debatable because of the injury that he suffered well I mean look at
11:14Lamar I mean Tyler Huntley we talk about how much of a joke the Pro Bowl is Tyler Huntley
11:19went to a Pro Bowl because he had to fill in when Lamar got hurt I think he played like two games
11:23and then 11 quarterbacks said they didn't want to go to Orlando so he made the Pro Bowl I know
11:26it's ridiculous but the point is they have to have a good backup quarterback in Baltimore
11:31because every single year the discussion is can Lamar stay healthy Jaden's proved it for a year
11:36it's still going to be something that follows him around just because of his size you know maybe in
11:40three or four years if we're down the line and he's only missed you know a couple of games maybe
11:43the discussion kind of goes but just looking at a dude that size you still you feel better now than
11:49you did when they drafted him there's no doubt about that but it's not like you feel like oh
11:53Josh Allen's back there like it's tank so that that's a good way to put it I feel better about
11:58the chance that Jaden Daniels can be a durable quarterback than I did one year ago at this time
12:03unequivocally but I am not willing to say that after last year I am confident or that he proved
12:10that he can stay healthy he was compromised for a quarter of a season because he took a really
12:15big shot at the end of an awkward fall while running for 40 plus yards against Carolina
12:21there was basically a four game run there where he was compromised that's about 25 of the season so
12:27if that is the season people are pointing to seeing saying I told you he could play a whole
12:31year he kept playing the only reason he was not Jaden Daniels for several weeks the only reason
12:37I feel better like long term than probably you do is the reason he got hurt was kind of fluky
12:43like he's running gonna be fluke but that that's my point like if he's running around and he gets
12:48hit and it's because he's not protecting himself then that to me is something that if you can't
12:53get that out of him then he's going to get hurt like that but Robert Griffin was fluky but fluky
12:57injuries happen I get that but I can that happens to anybody that happens to well it happens when
13:03you run more than every other quarterback sure but I just feel like if it's fluky injuries
13:08there's nothing you can do it's going to happen see I disagree because I think when you run as
13:12much as he does the chance of what you're calling fluky which is just being tackled in the open
13:17field that's what we're calling fluky when Griffin's diving and his leg wraps around
13:22that doesn't happen when you're standing in the pocket so you can also get hurt there
13:26by the way sure and Tom Brady did who had cinder blocks for feet and he missed an entire season
13:31with the torn ACL I'm not suggesting that's not the case but you do have a much better chance just
13:35generally of being durable if you stand in the pocket my actual fear for Jaden last year was
13:40more him getting basically swallowed up by a 340-pound defensive tackle and landed on in the
13:46Tony Romo collarbone thing sure yeah because he's a slender guy and that never really happened
13:50because nobody could really catch him that when he can see you you know he does a good job
13:54avoiding contact in that way but I'm not willing to say after last year because he played in every
13:59game that he proved that a that's going to happen every year I think each season's different I mean
14:05how many times the first home game against the Giants he came to the sideline got treatment
14:09Mariota's warming up he goes back in what I learned last year is that he's unbelievably tough
14:13what I learned last year that's going to be hard as hell to get him off the field
14:16not that he is above injuries what scares me is that maybe he's just that lucky guy and at
14:23some point that luck is going to run out because the one that always sticks in my head and I have
14:27no idea how he just ran back out on the field and kept rolling is that Falcons hits the gumby
14:33leg play he's bent backwards and you know I was in the stands with your brother watching the game
14:38and it was like oh no here we go again it's the same stupid thing again and he just popped back
14:44up and was ready to roll again I don't know how he was fine from that and there are a bunch of
14:47hits where you know I think for the most part you didn't have too many of the crazy LSU hits where
14:53he's jumping over the line and he's getting blasted out of like he didn't have as many of
14:57those I thought he protected himself much better but the fluky ones are what's going to scare you
15:02and to your point when you have a quarterback that is going to run the ball as much if not more than
15:07anybody else in the National Football League you open that risk up but I also will take that risk
15:12with the ability of him being able to just be so much more explosive and so hard to stop
15:17compared to every other quarterback I also think that scrambling and this is just a theory right I
15:24have nothing to back this up I'd have to study it but like scrambling which he did at a rate that
15:28far exceeded anybody else like not even close is actually more dangerous maybe than the designed
15:33run when it's outside like Cliff Kingsbury I think he toned it down but early in the year they were
15:38doing the design stuff between the tackles at the goal line and those were some of the biggest hits
15:42he was taking no doubt and thank god they stopped doing that but generally when you design a run
15:46meaning you've got some blockers in front oftentimes it's into space you can use the
15:50sideline as your friend you can get down on the ground easier when you're scrambling there is a
15:55suddenness and just a spontaneity to that to there's guys in different positions on the field
16:02you don't have a lead blocker with you like that can be a little bit scarier too