Swanson: Watch Jayden Daniels outshine Caleb Williams in rookie arms race

Let’s imagine you’re having your eyes checked.

So tell me, 1) … or 2)?

Ready? 1) Birthday or 2) Christmas?

OK, 1) Disneyland or 2) Magic Mountain? And, 1) Ice cream or 2) Cake?

Very good. Now, 1) Caleb Williams or 2) Jayden Daniels?

Caleb, eh? Are you sure?

You want to look at that again?

No? Maybe you’re a USC fan. Either way, it’s all good – this is a no-lose proposition, prognostication being in the eye of the beholder in ball and all.

But remember, you read it here – if not first, then loudly – that that kid Jayden is going to run off with the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year hardware this season, just watch.

Keep an eye open for all the C.J. Stroud comparisons that will be coming Daniels’ way. For the Washington Commanders’ new starting quarterback, the pride of San Bernardino’s Cajon High School, to take the NFL by storm like his Inland Empire brethren from Rancho Cucamonga did last season.

And watch out out if you’re facing the dual-threat Daniels in fantasy football on any given weekend. Because although Williams went ahead of Daniels in the draft – Nos. 1 and 2 – the rotisserie experts would have team owners take the former LSU star before the Trojans’ decorated pass-slinger, slotting them, on average, 12th and 13th, respectively, among the league’s QBs.

Look, I know Williams – the 22-year-old 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and renowned gridiron illusionist – is likely to pull rabbits out of his helmet in every city his Chicago Bears visit this season.

I’m counting on a tidal wave of timeline-flooding highlights along the way, moments – like last weekend’s 45-yard off-platform pass to rookie receiver Rome Odunze in a preseason game against Cincinnati – that will dissected to death, as too will his mistakes be.

Every angle of Caleb Williams’ jaw-dropping throw to Rome Odunze.

(via NFL) pic.twitter.com/dQOn0dIWtA

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) August 17, 2024

The attention and scrutiny on the 23-year-old Daniels – the 2023 Heisman winner, an exciting player in his own right, if not in the same Patrick Mahomes-esque mold-breaking mode – won’t be as strident.

The pressure won’t be so ponderous. Expectations will be more manageable as the Commanders (4-13 last season) reset under new head coach Dan Quinn.

It seems an ideal situation for a blue-collar rookie from San Bernardino to come in and get to work, start chipping away – as he has this preseason, completing 10 of 12 mostly quick, precise passes – at the goal of winning Washington a playoff game for the first time in 19 seasons.

It should be a good fit for a guy who really exploded onto the scene late in his college career. That’s probably partly because of where he started, as a somewhat lesser-known prospect who had resisted overtures from the big-name high school programs, staying home and going to Cajon, the school his parents attended.

Daniels, at 6-foot-4 and and 210 pounds – 35 more than he weighed in 2019 when he arrived at Arizona State – got started by winning the starting spot this week in Washington. He was made to earn it, just as he has every season he’s ever played football, starting as a Cowboys ninth-grader and a Sun Devils freshman.

The Bears, meanwhile, never even gave it a second thought; of course they were going to give the No. 1 overall pick the starting job.

Chicago (7-10 last season) handed the keys to Williams in May, letting him drive the offense throughout OTAs, minicamp and training camp before his two brief preseason appearances in which he completed 10 of 20 passes for 170 yards and rushed for 20 more with a touchdown.

“He’s a great learner,” said Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who will be under pressure leading a capable team in his third season on the job. “Very smart. He works really hard.”

That part. No one achieves a fraction of what the 6-1 Williams has without a real commitment to grind. Remember those stories from Oklahoma, where he forced his way into the 6 a.m. workout group that was typically off-limits to freshmen?

But Daniels does stuff like that too. Those reports that he would organize 10 p.m. throwing sessions with LSU receivers and then show back up to study film at 5 a.m., forcing the staff there to overhaul their fingerprint access system to allow for around-the-clock entry?

Now he’s gone to Washington and kept similar hours.

He’s reportedly been getting to the facility between 5:30 and 5:45 every morning to walk through the playbook on the indoor practice field with wide receiver Luke McCaffrey. Cramming, basically. Working extra to accelerate learning plays and personnel.

“I ain’t a star quarterback yet,” Daniels told reporters recently, a typically humble statement from a player whose confidence is most visible in his ever-present smile. “I’ve got a long way to go.”

Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels gets it.

A reporter asked Jayden what it's like being the "star quarterback" in town?

Jayden quickly responds, "I ain't a star quarterback yet, I got a long way to go. I'm a rookie."

Just the perfect response. pic.twitter.com/jmR27TVm6w

— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) June 12, 2024

Williams – the showman originally from D.C. – would be lying if he tried to claim he wasn’t already a star, accustomed as he is to the spotlight he’s earned through behind-the-scenes labor and study, including picking Tom Brady’s brain and adopting his restrictive diet.

“What’s the reason to duck?” Williams recently asked. “There’s no reason to duck. I’m here. Rome is here. Keenan Allen, the top-five defense that we had last year, special teams. … We’re here. I’m excited. I know everybody’s excited. The Bears’ fans are excited from what I’ve heard and seen, and there’s no reason to duck.”

No, there’s no reason for either of these talented young quarterbacks – whose teams will meet in the nation’s capital on Oct. 27 – to duck.

But there is reason to believe Daniels will edge Williams at the tape during awards season. The Commanders’ QB likely will put up big numbers playing from behind more often, and he’ll have an easier time exceeding expectations that haven’t been set in quite the same stratosphere as those for Williams – even if they should be.

But maybe you can only see that black-and-blue dress as white and gold? Or you don’t like Christmas? Maybe, for you, it’s still Caleb, No. 1. Jayden, 2?

But it’s close. Because, long term, both options are winners.