00:00I think that there are some of you out there that beyond the conversation of you're concerned about Jaden being
00:09able to be a healthy quarterback, you know, consistently, I don't think that's an unreasonable concern.
00:14I've never thought that that was an unreasonable concern, even though the data actually suggests that he is very durable
00:22until last year, played 52 of 54 games in college and played all 20 as a rookie.
00:29Yes, there were nicks and knacks, the rib injury, ironically, during that 2024 season after that rib injury against Carolina,
00:40remember, which was the game before the Hail Mary game.
00:43But he came back and he didn't play great against Chicago, but threw that Hail Mary and then had one
00:48of his better games of the season as sort of a banged up injured player against the Giants on the
00:55road.
00:56He had a 95.1 QBR in that game and was outstanding as both a runner and a thrower in
01:03that particular game.
01:04But this is not about your concern about him staying healthy.
01:09This is not about going back and picking, you know, second again as if it hadn't been done between Drake
01:17May and Jaden Daniels.
01:18This is a simple question. Do you still, as you probably did a year ago, do you still consider Jaden
01:27Daniels to be an elite level quarterback talent?
01:34I do. He checked off every single box as a rookie.
01:39I know it was only one season. One seasons do not make a career, just like the injury season last
01:45year does not make a career.
01:47I have a very difficult time assessing anything of significance to the seven games he played in in 2025, the
01:57four games that he actually started and finished.
01:59It's just too small of a sample size.
02:03And that small sample size includes dysfunction around him at every turn, especially after the Chicago game on Monday night.
02:13Once they got to the at Dallas game and the injuries really started to multiply and and really, you know,
02:22pile up on one another.
02:243 0 1 2 3 0 0 9 80. I still consider Jaden Daniels to be an elite level NFL
02:31quarterback talent wise.
02:33And I expect him to have that kind of a career. Max, what do you say before we get to
02:38the phone lines?
02:39Yeah, I still think he's an elite level quarterback. It just comes down to, I mean, health at the end
02:43of the day.
02:44That's usually what stops guys from, you know, reaching their full potential.
02:48So I still think he's an elite quarterback. I just need to see a full healthy season.
02:53Okay. But I want to make this clear. I don't want to talk about the health.
02:55I want simply, do you still believe callers that you are watching and have watched in elite level NFL QB
03:06talent injuries aside?
03:08That's a separate conversation comparing him to other elite NFL QB talents, separate conversation, because that 2024 draft may prove
03:17out to be the greatest of all time.
03:19Where you ended up with three extraordinary talents, maybe four out of the six that were picked.
03:26We'll see. J.J. McCarthy certainly is way behind at this point.
03:31And so is Penix Jr. Although there have been at least flashes from Penix Jr.
03:36But all I'm asking is, do you still consider Jaden Daniels to be an elite level NFL quarterback talent?
03:45Let's go with Gary in Upper Marlboro. Gary, go ahead.
03:49Good morning, Kevin. Thanks for taking my call.
03:52Sure.
03:54I am in wait and see mode, okay, because we've seen this before.
03:59We've seen this in Washington, and we've seen this in Houston, and we've seen this in San Diego or the
04:04Chargers.
04:05A rookie comes out and plays very well.
04:07You couldn't find one person in Washington after RG3 had his rookie season.
04:13You could have gone down the same checklist that you did for Jaden other than winning a playoff game.
04:18You mean with RG3?
04:21With RG3, right, right, right.
04:26Not really, though.
04:27Not really, Gary.
04:29RG3 did not check off a lot of the boxes of elite-level quarterback talent in the NFL because of
04:38the way they played.
04:39Because of the way they played.
04:42I think that you couldn't find anybody in Washington, including you.
04:46I was listening to you.
04:47That's true.
04:48That everyone was saying that that's why I'm in wait and see mode, because I was of the belief the
04:53same thing, okay?
04:54He had, we had evidence last year that he didn't play at an elite level.
04:59We have a Hall of Fame quarterback who said he took some steps back.
05:03Now, there may be some reasons for that, but he took a step back in performance on the field.
05:08And we've seen this in Houston with their quarterback.
05:10You couldn't tell anybody in Houston that they didn't have an elite-level quarterback after his rookie year.
05:15The same thing with the L.A. Chargers.
05:18With their kid, his rookie year.
05:19You couldn't tell anybody that.
05:21But he took a step back.
05:22Now he's bouncing back.
05:23But that's why I'm in wait and see mode, okay?
05:27Last year we had some areas where he looked like he took a step back, okay?
05:32So I'm in wait and see mode.
05:34Now, I think that people are going to be waiting to be wrong on that issue.
05:38I think he's going to probably be an elite quarterback.
05:41But I think that there's enough here to say, hey, look, based on prior history, based on his performance last
05:48year, let's wait and see, okay?
05:50I don't think he's, right now you can say definitively, he's a top 15 quarterback, okay?
05:56I don't think you can say that definitively.
05:58I think he is.
05:59Good call, Gary.
06:00I'm a fan.
06:01Good call, as always, as always.
06:03And I do appreciate it.
06:04There are a couple things that you said here.
06:06Number one is, again, this is my biggest offseason just, you know, knit to pick, and it's beyond that.
06:17It's just been aggravating to me.
06:19And I know what quarterback you're talking about.
06:20You're talking about one of my all-time favorite quarterbacks in Kurt Warner, who had some criticism and referred, I
06:26don't know if he used the word step back,
06:27but I just think anybody that refers to Jaden Daniels' second season as a step-back season based on the
06:35way he played is really, really reaching.
06:39It is just way too small of a sample size.
06:45He played four of 17 games start to finish.
06:50And, by the way, in those four, he played very well in two of them that reminded us of 2024,
06:57the Charger game and the Bears game until the last play.
07:00Another one, he was the opener against the Giants.
07:04He was fine.
07:05He wasn't 2024 level, but he was fine, and it was the season opener.
07:08And then he didn't play well, nor did anybody, against Green Bay.
07:13In the other games, he didn't finish those games.
07:16And in those other games, literally, there were guys that needed to introduce themselves to the locker room before the
07:23game started that were going to be playing.
07:25So, that's number one.
07:27The step-back thing is absurd to me.
07:30Number two is, you're right about feeling the way I did and many did about RG3 after 2012.
07:37It was a magical season.
07:40But the boxes that I checked off with Jaden when I went through my list as to why I do
07:46believe he is an elite-level quarterback talent, you couldn't check off the same boxes with RG3.
07:53He did not prove to be a quarterback that could throw with anticipation, that could throw, that could read defenses.
08:01Look, they played football differently.
08:04You know, 20% of their offense was dual-threat quarterbacking, which led to basically one particular play action off
08:13of their zone read presentation that they ran over and over again.
08:18Now, it didn't matter because in the moment, we were living through magic, and it was a tremendous season, and
08:26he was such an electrifying player.
08:29But he did not check all of the true elite-level QB boxes that you need to check off.
08:36Now, you mentioned Herbert, and you mentioned C.J. Stroud.
08:40Herbert's biggest box that he hasn't checked is he's not been a clutch quarterback.
08:46Jaden only did it for one year, but he did it five or six times in the one season,
08:51where he delivered with his team behind, needing him to perform at a ridiculously high level.
08:59And some of those games towards the end of the year were massive games.
09:03The Eagles come back.
09:05The Falcons game to clinch a playoff spot.
09:08The two playoff games on the road.
09:11C.J. Stroud, that's an interesting question,
09:15because I would say that Herbert's checked every elite quarterback talent box except for Clutch Gene.
09:24Good call, though, Gary.
09:25I appreciate it.
09:26Let's go to Anthony in D.C.
09:28Anthony, go ahead.
09:29Do you still believe that Jaden is an elite NFL QB talent?
09:35Kevin, nothing to see here.
09:39Move along.
09:41Simple as that.
09:42But your friend has recency bias, and basically he's tripping.
09:48I said the same.
09:50I said the same.
09:51I mean, yeah, I mean.
09:53But you know that there are people that agree with him.
09:55We just had our very first caller somewhat agree with him.
09:59I pay them people no mind whatsoever.
10:05Jaden has demonstrated everything that you want in a quarterback.
10:10If it's not Jaden, it's the people around Jaden.
10:14That's going to be the issue.
10:17Like, in 2024, if we had a modicum of a damn defense between 15 and 20, I think we'd go
10:27to the Super Bowl.
10:28Maybe.
10:30The game, the NFC title game would have been closer.
10:32That's for sure.
10:34Exactly.
10:35So, last year, the offensive line was in shambles.
10:40The defense was in shambles again.
10:44And he had no wide receivers.
10:46Exactly.
10:47So, I mean, like I said, your friend is tripping.
10:52Yeah.
10:53Look, he's not the only one.
10:56But I'm with you.
10:58You know how I feel.
10:59I feel like, well, what you said about recency bias is actually really what it is.
11:04It's really the modus operandi for 95% of sports fans.
11:11What I just saw is what it is.
11:14And what they just saw was a season that went sideways.
11:19And they can get fooled by the people that said it was a major step-back season for Jaden when
11:25he barely even played football.
11:27Which I don't know how you can call it a major step-back season unless you just want to say
11:31he proved out what you thought all along.
11:34Which was, he was never going to be able to be a consistently available quarterback.
11:41That's different.
11:43Yeah.
11:43The outside noise you have to take with a grain of salt because they aren't as entrenched in the information
11:49as the local people.
11:52I know.
11:53But there are people, you know, entrenched in it that will talk about his terrible games last year.
11:59I'm like, which games were those?
12:01The Green Bay game?
12:03Yeah, that's it.
12:04By the way, everybody played poorly in that game.
12:07Right.
12:08Before you let me go, let me hit you with something real quick.
12:10Okay.
12:11So, you know how when you see certain players in certain sports, you make declarative statements, right?
12:17Right.
12:17So, recently in my YouTube timeline, a lot of 2012 highlights have come up.
12:25And I have got to say without any doubt in my mind that Jordan Reed was a Hall of Fame
12:33player.
12:33Oh, no doubt.
12:35Oh, no doubt.
12:35No doubt.
12:36No doubt in my mind.
12:36I think the 2015 and 2016 seasons were the ones where we realized that.
12:42He wasn't on the team in 2012.
12:45He was drafted in 2013.
12:47Whatever, whatever those years were, his highlights were on.
12:52Yeah.
12:52He was a Hall of Fame player.
12:53When I had Cousins on the show, you know, over the spring or whenever it was, and I gave him
13:01a bunch of names, and I said, first thing that pops into your mind, I said, Jordan Reed.
13:05And he said, an absolute Hall of Famer if he stays healthy.
13:09Everybody has said that.
13:10Everybody that was around him says it.
13:13Cooley said it.
13:14He said he's the best route-running, best pass-catching tight end he's ever seen in terms of the talent.
13:20I know.
13:21Would have been.
13:24He's right there after Sean in terms of the greatest what-ifs in franchise history.
13:29All right, Anthony.
13:30Thank you, as always.
13:31Thank you, as always.
