Is Jayden Daniels in the Mix for the Vikings?

Maybe the Commanders don’t take him at #2

In my previous quarterback pieces, I’ve not gone into too much detail with Jayden Daniels, as it seemed that the Washington Commanders would select Daniels at #2, making him unavailable to the Vikings, just like Caleb Williams at #1.

But that may not be the case. Commanders’ GM Adam Peters said recently that they would be coming to a decision soon, and he didn’t see a scenario where they would trade down. Earlier this week, the odds for Daniels being drafted by the Commanders began rising steadily from around -150 or so to nearly -300 (75% implied probability). But then yesterday they fell to around -115, and roughly even with those for Drake Maye, suggesting there is less belief the Commanders will take Daniels at #2.

There have been rumors- below- that one of Daniels first meetings with the Commanders didn’t go well, and more recently Daniels’ agent apparently voiced some displeasure on his client’s behalf with the Commanders’ group prospect visit on Wednesday. Apparently Daniels thought it would be only him, rather than a couple dozen prospects all at once.

Daniels himself responded to the tweet about the Commanders meeting not going well, without denying it.

Of course even it was true that the Commanders like Daniels more than he likes the Commanders, that doesn’t mean the Commanders won’t draft him anyway- although it may make it less likely. And even if he’s not drafted by the Commanders, the Patriots may elect to draft him rather than make a deal with the Vikings to move down.

In the meantime, the Vikings were (finally) able to schedule their meeting and private workout with Daniels- the last of the top five minus Williams the Vikings had already done so with. That happened yesterday. The fact that Daniels agreed to the meeting with the Vikings, but didn’t do so earlier, may be due to a change on whether Daniels thinks he’ll go to the Commanders- or because he doesn’t want to.

It’s been said by every pundit I’ve seen comment that the Minnesota Vikings is the preferred destination for all the top quarterbacks in this draft, because the Vikings offer a young quarterback the best situation- top receivers, good offensive line, good coaching from former NFL quarterbacks. And so maybe Daniels is looking for an opportunity for him to be available to the Vikings at #3, for example.

It’s unclear how Daniels’ meetings with the Patriots have gone, but New England is an even worse situation for a young quarterback than Washington. How well the Patriots’ brass think Daniels fits with their scheme is another question.

And so, if Daniels doesn’t get drafted by the Commanders, and the Patriots don’t want to draft him either, a trade-up scenario for the Vikings would become an option. An expensive option likely to cost at least three first-round draft picks.

Of course we don’t know how high Daniels ranks on the Vikings’ draft board, or how well the Vikings’ meeting and private workout with Daniels went last night in Louisiana, but Daniels is the consensus QB2 in this draft and a dynamic dual-threat.

Whether the Vikings feel it’s worth the draft capital to move up is another question, but the scenario where the Vikings could trade up and draft Daniels didn’t seem like much of an option until yesterday. It still may not be. But it does seem more likely than it was 48 hours ago.

Stay tuned.

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