‘Coaching matters’ – Dan Orlovsky picked Jayden Daniels over Caleb Williams last year but fans argue Bears big mistake wasn’t in draft
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels will be pitted against each other until the end of time. Williams was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and landed with the Chicago Bears while Daniels went No. 2 to the Washington Commanders. Quarterback Daniels has been a revelation during his rookie seasonGetty However, there’s only one clear No. 1 following their rookie seasons and it’s evidently Daniels, who has all but locked up the Offensive Rookie of the Year award while leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship game for the first time in 33 years. Many at the time of April’s draft, including the Bears, had Williams as the consensus No. 1 overall pick after a stellar collegiate career that included the 2022 Heisman Trophy. However, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky was rocking with Daniels — also a Heisman winner — from the get-go, explaining why he would select the former LSU star No. 1 overall on an episode of ‘Get Up!’ back in February 2024. “Jayden Daniels should be the guy,” the former NFL quarterback said. “If I were the Chicago Bears right now I would take Daniels out of LSU. That is not a knock on Caleb Williams that is a plus on Daniels. Orlovsky went on to explain why he loved Daniels so much, which included him being the best thrower in the draft and the best guy against man coverage with the most explosive arm. He also praised Daniels for his elite processing and poise in the pocket. “The reason why, since I started the process that Jayden was the best quarterback, were two things,” Orlovsky said. “I thought he had the fastest eyes, and I thought that, when you’re covered in college it’s open in the NFL, it’s the best ball placement. Orlovsky retweeted the clip in the wake of Daniels completing 22-of-31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in a shock 45-31 victory over the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions in Saturday’s divisional round. He captioned the re-posted video with the date, February 29, and a handshake emoji, acknowledging how early he was on the Daniels hype train. Orlovsky was one of the few people in early 2024 saying they’d pick Daniels over WilliamsX@danorlovsky7 Williams had a tough season and was sacked 68 times, the third-most in NFL historyGetty While Orlovsky may think his Daniels prediction was a home run, many have pointed out the flaws in his argument. For a start, every single team would have picked Williams over Daniels back in February, and any revisionism around that is disingenuous to say the least. Others pointed to the situation both players found themselves in. While there was early optimism about a revamped Bears squad with a strong supporting cast, that fell away quickly as head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron were fired mid-season, giving Williams virtually no consistency to build upon. Daniels, meanwhile, ended up in Washington with HC Dan Quinn and OC Kliff Kingsbury, with Kingsbury in particular highly-regarded and widely credited with Daniels’ early success, catapulting his own name in the running for various vacant head coaching positions. Fans pointed this out in response to Orlovsky, making the argument that if the situations were reversed, Williams might be enjoying the same success Daniels currently is. Eberflus was fired mid-season and Williams dealt with two different head coaches and three different offensive coordinatorsGetty Daniels has benefited from working closely with former Cardinals head coach Kingsbury, who is highly-regardedAP “Honest question: in your opinion, if Caleb & Jayden flip places and Jayden gets coached in Chicago under Eberflus and Waldron, and Caleb is with Quinn and Kliff, how do you think their rookie years go?,” one fan asked. “Jayden has CLEARLY been the best rookie QB, but I find it hard to believe he would’ve done this under Shane Waldron.” “I’m not sure if Jayden Daniels will end up being better than Caleb Williams in his career. But we can all say with absolute certainty that Daniels was coached better during their rookie seasons. And the Bears passed on the OC who helped him …” another stated. “If Daniels were with the Bears and that O line he would have won 4 games,” a third wrote. “Commanders have a better core for Daniels to work with than the bears would’ve weird question,” someone else wrote. “Some are too focused on drafting Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniels. The focus always should be hiring Shane Waldron over Kliff Kingsbury. That’s the mistake the Bears made. Both quarterbacks are good, will be good. Coaching matters,” a fifth added. Daniels is set to become the sixth rookie quarterback in NFL history to start in a conference championship gameGetty Williams still has huge potentially and could end up being the better playerGetty Williams and Daniels’ regular season stats weren’t miles apart this season. Williams had 3,541 yards, a 62.5 completion percentage, 20 touchdowns and just six
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels will be pitted against each other until the end of time.
Williams was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and landed with the Chicago Bears while Daniels went No. 2 to the Washington Commanders.
However, there’s only one clear No. 1 following their rookie seasons and it’s evidently Daniels, who has all but locked up the Offensive Rookie of the Year award while leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship game for the first time in 33 years.
Many at the time of April’s draft, including the Bears, had Williams as the consensus No. 1 overall pick after a stellar collegiate career that included the 2022 Heisman Trophy.
However, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky was rocking with Daniels — also a Heisman winner — from the get-go, explaining why he would select the former LSU star No. 1 overall on an episode of ‘Get Up!’ back in February 2024.
“Jayden Daniels should be the guy,” the former NFL quarterback said.
“If I were the Chicago Bears right now I would take Daniels out of LSU. That is not a knock on Caleb Williams that is a plus on Daniels.
Orlovsky went on to explain why he loved Daniels so much, which included him being the best thrower in the draft and the best guy against man coverage with the most explosive arm.
He also praised Daniels for his elite processing and poise in the pocket.
“The reason why, since I started the process that Jayden was the best quarterback, were two things,” Orlovsky said. “I thought he had the fastest eyes, and I thought that, when you’re covered in college it’s open in the NFL, it’s the best ball placement.
Orlovsky retweeted the clip in the wake of Daniels completing 22-of-31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in a shock 45-31 victory over the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions in Saturday’s divisional round.
He captioned the re-posted video with the date, February 29, and a handshake emoji, acknowledging how early he was on the Daniels hype train.
While Orlovsky may think his Daniels prediction was a home run, many have pointed out the flaws in his argument.
For a start, every single team would have picked Williams over Daniels back in February, and any revisionism around that is disingenuous to say the least.
Others pointed to the situation both players found themselves in.
While there was early optimism about a revamped Bears squad with a strong supporting cast, that fell away quickly as head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron were fired mid-season, giving Williams virtually no consistency to build upon.
Daniels, meanwhile, ended up in Washington with HC Dan Quinn and OC Kliff Kingsbury, with Kingsbury in particular highly-regarded and widely credited with Daniels’ early success, catapulting his own name in the running for various vacant head coaching positions.
Fans pointed this out in response to Orlovsky, making the argument that if the situations were reversed, Williams might be enjoying the same success Daniels currently is.
“Honest question: in your opinion, if Caleb & Jayden flip places and Jayden gets coached in Chicago under Eberflus and Waldron, and Caleb is with Quinn and Kliff, how do you think their rookie years go?,” one fan asked. “Jayden has CLEARLY been the best rookie QB, but I find it hard to believe he would’ve done this under Shane Waldron.”
“I’m not sure if Jayden Daniels will end up being better than Caleb Williams in his career. But we can all say with absolute certainty that Daniels was coached better during their rookie seasons. And the Bears passed on the OC who helped him …” another stated.
“If Daniels were with the Bears and that O line he would have won 4 games,” a third wrote.
“Commanders have a better core for Daniels to work with than the bears would’ve weird question,” someone else wrote.
“Some are too focused on drafting Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniels. The focus always should be hiring Shane Waldron over Kliff Kingsbury. That’s the mistake the Bears made. Both quarterbacks are good, will be good. Coaching matters,” a fifth added.
Williams and Daniels’ regular season stats weren’t miles apart this season.
Williams had 3,541 yards, a 62.5 completion percentage, 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions during his rookie season, with his 4,030 yards of total offense the best in franchise history.
Daniels, meanwhile, completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
However, where they differed most obviously was their team records.
Chicago limped to a 5-12 record with interim head coach Thomas Brown in charge while the Commanders finished 12-5, their highest win total since 1991, meaning they are set to feature in their first NFC Championship game appearance since that same season.
Orlovsky is correct that Daniels is better than Williams this year.
But things can change quickly in the NFL, and it’d be foolish to write off Williams and suggest the Bears made a mistake in not drafting Daniels over him after just one season.
Both quarterbacks still have years left to play and Williams may eventually end up proving he’s the better player.
Only time will tell.
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