Washington
Can Jayden Daniels’ second act land the Commanders in the Super Bowl?
Commanders sign veteran Von Miller to one-year deal
The Washington Commanders are signing veteran linebacker and two-time Super Bowl winner Von Miller to a one-year contract.
unbranded – Sport
The second act of Jayden Daniels’ NFL career will come with high expectations – for himself and the Washington Commanders.
In 2024, the Commanders made the NFC championship game, with their rookie quarterback as the main reason. For a franchise devoid of success for more than two decades and a carousel at quarterback, Daniels was more than a revelation. He took on a mystic presence. He was a savior.
Now the Commanders will enter the 2025 season considered Super Bowl contenders (fair or not) and Daniels will be on MVP shortlists. An ESPN poll that took the temperature of NFL executives and coaches left Daniels as the No. 5-ranked quarterback in the league. Ahead of him were the powerful AFC quartet of quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.
“I gotta go out there and prove myself each and every day, no matter if it was last season, this season, 10, 20 years down the road,” Daniels said in May, “you have to prove yourself each and every season.
“Outside noise doesn’t matter,” he continued, “have to go there and keep proving yourself.”
Taken second overall in the new Commanders regime by general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn, Daniels carried over his production from Louisiana State to the pros. He rushed for the most yards ever by a rookie quarterback (891). The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner completed 69% of his passes and threw 25 touchdowns – five of which came in the final 30 seconds of regulation or overtime – to nine interceptions. He easily won Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Off the field, Daniels was instrumental in catalyzing the culture change Quinn instilled from the top of the organization down.
“He’s an amazing teammate. The amount of work that he puts in that goes unseen here to get ready to play, to learn it, to teach others to, you know, connect the guys … there is no flinch in Jayden Daniels,” Quinn said in May. “He’s as focused and relentless as you could about getting better. And so that’s why I said for us around here, like, man, we appreciate that and there’s a lot of things that, he and the rest of us are really digging in hard on to say, ‘All right, can we get this better?’”
Jayden Daniels’ 2025 NFL season goals? From learning to mastery
Throughout Daniels’ first full offseason as a pro, the coaching staff and the quarterback concentrated on taking aspects of his game from “really good” to “elite” with the goal of being “the best at this concept,” Quinn said.
The freedom an offseason provides was new to Daniels. Some of that was difficult to navigate, Daniels said, but he leaned on his support system.
“It was fun just to sit back and reflect and figure out how I’m going to move throughout this offseason and move forward,” Daniels said.
For offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, that meant receiving plenty of texts and calls from Daniels, who is a football junkie. Kingsbury didn’t have to give him any homework.
“His mind is never very far away from the game, so if he sees something or has a thought, he likes to reach out and talk through it,” Kingsbury said in May. “And so that relationship has really grown, I think kind of figuring out where we want to continue to get better at.
“That’s all he kind of thinks about is how he can get better and watches a ton of film, watches a ton of football overall. And so, that organically really takes care of itself in a way when you have a guy who wants to be that great.”
A potential head-coach candidate once again, Kingsbury, quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough were all retained by the Commanders this offseason with the goal of providing a stable “ecosystem,” in the words of Peters, for Daniels.
“It’s huge,” Kingsbury said of the continuity at Daniels’ disposal. “I think you look traditionally through the NFL, the guys who’ve had a ton of success have been able to stay in those long-term, all-time greats and just the comfort level and then you being able to take the ownership of it and understand it inside and out, where now you’re correcting people, you don’t even need the coaches. And he’s kind of getting to that point.”
Going into Year 2, Kingsbury said, Daniels shifted from learning to mastery of the scheme. Daniels said “transparency” between he and Kingsbury has improved; he relays what he likes, Kingsbury offers his viewpoints and they agree on the middle ground.
“Just watching him move around, he’s not thinking as much, he’s playing fast and letting his natural gifts kind of take over and that’s what we want to see,” Kingsbury said. “So, I expect him to take a big jump.”
The spotlight will only increase. The Commanders are scheduled to play in 10 standalone windows this season, starting Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers on “Thursday Night Football.”
Commanders have ‘massive opportunity’ with Jayden Daniels on rookie contract
Throughout last season, Daniels faced questions regarding his durability. The 6-foot-4 passer is listed at a generous 210 pounds. Big hits he took in the first month of the season didn’t assuage those concerns. Daniels suffered a rib injury against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 20 following a long run that affected him for the better part of a month.
Neither the Commanders nor Daniels had any specific weight goals or bulking desires for the offseason. Quinn said he’s where he expects Daniels to be on the scale, but that working out more has naturally made him leaner.
“He knows what he has to do to protect himself and where he feels comfortable playing,” Kingsbury said. “But the arm strength, it looks better and you can tell he’s stronger, there’s no doubt.”
While Daniels improved himself, Peters improved the roster. He brought back key veterans who bonded with Daniels in tight end Zach Ertz, linebacker Bobby Wagner and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. He traded for wideout Deebo Samuel, formerly with the San Francisco 49ers, and left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Commanders used their first-round draft pick on offensive lineman Josh Conerly.
“We have a massive opportunity, and you know, none of us are taking that lightly,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said regarding Daniels’ rookie contract in February after the team’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.
But Daniels’ favorite target, wide receiver Terry McLaurin, and the front office are locked into a contract standoff that has devolved from standard to bitter.
In Quinn’s mind, whoever Daniels is working with on the field has the benefit of working with a leader who understands the larger goal.
“I know he’s worked hard through the offseason, but he’s just in command of the things that he wanted to work,” Quinn said. “He and his teammates, they’ve really put in a lot of work together.
“You can sense when people are going for it and you know, he’s certainly one that is.”
Washington
Three Keys to Wizards Victory Over 76ers
The 1-2 Washington Wizards are taking on the red hot, 3-0 Philadelphia 76ers. Though early in the season, Philadelphia looks like one of the teams to beat in the eastern conference — even more impressive considering their banged up roster.
Joel Embiid, Paul George and Jared McCain have all missed time thus far this season. McCain will remain out for the foreseeable future, but George and Embiids’ status remains up in the air. Despite the 76ers seemingly being a daunting opponent, there are still a few things that the Wizards can do in order to pull out the win.
Much like the last game, the Wizards are matched up with a 76ers team who is on the tail end of a back-to-back. Washington did come out hot last game, jumping out to an early lead. However, they didn’t sustain that pace throughout the course of the game, allowing the Charlotte Hornets to take over down the stretch. Washington has proven to have the ball handlers and depth necessary to sustain a high pace over the course of a game, its up to them to execute it.
With the 76ers stacked roster, it will be inherently difficult for the Wizards to slow down their momentum. Between Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe, the Wizards quite the handful. Because of this, Washington will be forced to focus on one or two players in order to have success. Its difficult to eliminate players of their caliber from games, especially considering the Wizards lack of perimeter defense.
However, Washington’s best bet would be to try and overwhelm Embiid and Edgecombe. Embiid is well past him prime years and lingering lower body injuries have really slowed him down. As a result, the Wizards pace of play coupled with consistent physical play could effectively remove him from the game. Edgecombe is of course a rookie, allowing Washington to possibly exploit his lack of experience.
The one thing that has held consistent for Washington over the course of this season is the offense. Their offense is the base for all of their success and has kept them in every game this season. Philadelphia will undoubtedly have a high powered offense versus the Wizards lack-luster defense, so as a result, Washington will have to get their offense rolling early on in order to keep up.
Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson have brought the heat night in and night out, but Washington will have to get some other guys going in order to keep up. Look for CJ McCollum or Bub Carrington to break out of the slumps they have been in, having their first big games of the season.
Make sure you bookmark Washington Wizards on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
Washington
Caps Travel to Texas | Washington Capitals
Oct. 28 vs. Dallas Stars at American Airlines Arena
Time: 8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (6-3-0)
Dallas Stars (3-3-1)
The Caps take to the road again for the final time in October, venturing outside the Eastern Time Zone for the first time this season when they face the Stars in Dallas on Tuesday night. Washington has won three straight road games at the outset of the season for the first time since 2015-16, when it won each of its first four games on the road.
Tuesday night in Dallas, the Caps will aim to match that feat in a building and a city that has traditionally been a tough environment for them; the Capitals are 7-15-2 all-time in Texas, since the Stars moved south from Minnesota for the 1993-94 season. And the Caps seek to extend that streak without two of their key players, both of whom played in all 82 games for Washington last season.
Defenseman Rasmus Sandin missed Washington’s weekend set of back-to-back games with an upper body injury. When the Caps conducted their Monday morning practice prior to their departure for the Lone Star State, Sandin was in a baby blue non-contact sweater. He won’t make the trip to Dallas.
Also staying behind in DC is center Dylan Strome, who left Saturday’s game with Ottawa after suffering a lower body injury when he became entangled with teammate Jakob Chychrun behind the Senators’ net.
Strome’s injury occurred early in the first period of Saturday’s game with the Sens. After being helped off the ice, he came back midway through the initial frame, taking a few tentative twirls around the ice during a television timeout. He took one full shift (57 seconds) and one brief one (eight seconds) before retiring for the evening.
Since joining the Capitals in 2022-23, Strome has missed just one game; he was a healthy scratch midway through his first season with Washington, shortly after both Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson came off injured reserve simultaneously at the midpoint of that campaign. Both Backstrom and Wilson had missed the front half of the season while rehabbing from offseason surgeries.
Caps coach Spencer Carbery is heartened by the fact that Strome was able to come back on the ice and try to play after initially suffering the injury. Carbery termed Strome as “day-to-day.”
“You’re always concerned when someone goes into the boards,” says Carbery. “I guess it wasn’t really a collision, but going into the boards awkwardly, you’re always a little bit concerned. But him coming back out to try it, I would say I was then optimistic. Because if he doesn’t come back at all, that means it’s pretty significant.
“So him coming back to try it and going through a shift after that I would say made me feel a little bit more positive about where he was at.”
With Strome out of the picture for at least the Dallas game, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin is without his most frequent center for the last three-plus seasons as he seeks the goal that will make him the NHL’s first 900-goal scorer ever.
Since Strome’s arrival in Washington in 2022-23, Ovechkin has logged just under 3,300 minutes at even strength, and 57.7 percent of that time has been spent with Strome on his line. Across a much smaller sample size of just 114:14 Ovechkin has played at evens through the season’s first nine games, that share of the ice at even strength with Strome is significantly larger, at 80.5 percent.
Connor McMichael has played a fair amount with Ovechkin over the years, but not so much from the middle of the ice. Typically, when the two have been on a line together, they’ve occupied the wings of the line. Playing with the game’s all-time goal-scoring leader is a unique situation. At Monday’s practice, McMichael manned the middle of a line with Ovechkin and Ryan Leonard.
“It is different,” says Carbery. “And so there are, and I wouldn’t necessarily characterize them as challenges; I would characterize them as nuances and differences that are very similar to playing with any other winger. But [Ovechkin] has some tendencies that you need to be aware of, [such as] where he likes pucks, where he is going to be on the ice, and communication style and all that sort of stuff.
“Mikey has played with him enough for us to feel comfortable. If you remember, he played quite a bit with him last year; he was playing on the wing, not in the middle, so it changes it a little bit.”
Over the first nine games of the season, McMichael and Ovechkin have shared the ice for just under 27 minutes at even strength. Across the previous three seasons – coinciding with Strome’s time in Washington – McMichael and Ovechkin have been on the ice together for just under 14 percent of Ovechkin’s even strength ice time.
“It’s a little bit different than playing with anyone else,” says McMichael. “He is a unique player, obviously. He’s one of the greatest to ever do it, and you just have to adapt to the way he plays a little bit, because you know he is going to be waiting in the weeds, waiting to unleash that one-timer.
“It’s just little things. I think me and Lenny are going to have to work a little cycle game, and you always know that O is going to find ways of getting open. I think it’s more so just running little plays with each other and then looking for a shot. And if it’s not there, then you know O is open somewhere. And honestly, just talking with Stromer over the years and all that fun stuff, he says you can’t change how you play too much. It’s just little, tiny details.”
Washington made a pair of transactions on Monday morning prior to departing for Dallas. Less than 48 hours after loaning him to AHL Hershey, the Caps summoned winger Ethen Frank from that same club. Frank played quite well in Washington’s Friday night win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus, but when P-L Dubois rejoined the Caps’ lineup on Saturday against Ottawa, Frank was sent to Hershey.
The Caps also announced that they’ve signed forward Brett Leason to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $775,000 at the NHL level and $250,000 at the AHL level. Leason was a second-round draft choice (56th overall) of the Capitals in the 2019 NHL Draft, and he spent three seasons in the Washington organization, making his NHL debut with the Caps just under four years ago, on Oct. 29, 2021. He scored his first NHL goal three nights later in his second game, against the Lightning in Tampa.
Just over three years ago, Leason was claimed off waivers from Washington by the Anaheim Ducks, and he spent the last three seasons there. Leason has 220 NHL games under his belt, and he has totaled 25 goals, 29 assists and 54 points along with 54 PIM. The 26-year-old Calgary native gives the Caps another experienced NHL hand in the organization, helping to mitigate the loss of winger Sheldon Rempal, who opted to return to the KHL after signing with the Capitals last summer.
Leason was placed on waivers for the purpose of loaning him to AHL Hershey.
Early in the first season of Glen Gulutzan’s second tour of duty as the Dallas bench boss, the Stars have had some ups and downs. Dallas won three straight games out of the starting gate, but followed by dropping four straight (0-3-1), with three of the losses coming on home ice. The Stars enter Tuesday’s game – their third in four nights – after a sweep of a weekend set of back-to-backs by identical 3-2 scores.
With Jake Oettinger in net on Saturday night in Dallas, the Stars dug their way out of a 2-0 first-period deficit, downing the Carolina Hurricanes on the strength of Miro Heiskanen’s first two goals of the season. Oettinger made 32 saves to help the Stars stop a three-game home skid (0-2-1).
A night later in Nashville, Dallas authored another comeback from a 2-0 deficit, with Mikko Rantanen supplying the game-winner on a Stars power play midway through the third period. Casey DeSmith picked up his first victory of the season in Sunday’s win over the Predators, making 23 saves
Washington
How big is Darnell Washington? Pittsburgh Steelers TE size, height, weight
Aaron Rodgers talks about facing former team, the Green Bay Packers
This weekend the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Green Bay Packers, marking the first time Aaron Rodgers will face his former team.
The tight end position is rife for “matchup nightmares” for opposing defenses. There are players at the position who are often too big for defensive backs to cover or shed blocks from and also too fast for linebackers to keep up with in coverage consistently.
There may not be a bigger mismatch for opposing defenses at the position than the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Darnell Washington.
Pittsburgh drafted Washington in the third round, No. 93 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Georgia. As a rookie, Washington played in less than half of the offensive snaps for the Steelers.
That made sense as the former Bulldog was viewed as a prospect with elite traits but needing some refinement in technique to stick in the NFL. In his third season, Washington’s taken a step in his development.
He’s on pace for career-highs across the board as a receiver as his role’s increased on offense under coordinator Arthur Smith. He’ll likely be featured heavily in the Steelers’ “Sunday Night Football” matchup on the road versus the Green Bay Packers.
Don’t worry, he won’t be hard to spot when he’s on the field. He’s one of the biggest players on the field in any game he’s playing.
Darnell Washington size, height, weight
Washington was the biggest tight end selected in his draft class at 6-foot-7 and 264 pounds. Only New York Jets pick Zack Kuntz could match his height at 6-foot-7.
Pittsburgh still lists his weight at 264 pounds on their roster and have since he was drafted in 2023. But that’s not necessarily true.
Steelers tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts said last season that Washington weighed over 300 pounds. Former Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson corroborated that and said Washington weighed 315 pounds towards the end of the season.
NFL broadcasters have enjoyed questioning Washington’s listed weight on their roster. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt – now an analyst for CBS – did not think that was correct when asked during the Steelers-Browns game in Week 6.
If Wilson and Roberts’ estimates are true, Washington would be the first tight end playing at 300 pounds or more since 2021 when career guard Dan Feeney was classified as a tight end for the Jets.
His combination of lineman size and tight end athleticism has seen him deployed as a blocker very often for the Steelers’ offense.
Darnell Washington stats
Washington scored his first touchdown of the season in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here’s how he’s done so far this season:
- Games: 6 (5 starts)
- Targets: 14
- Catches: 9
- Receiving yards: 84
- Receiving touchdowns: 1
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