Back to work off the much-needed bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers now turn their attention to preparing for one of the stories of the year in the NFL, both from a team and a player perspective.
That would be the Washington Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom the Steelers will travel to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Sunday to take on in Week 10.
Daniels, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner after a stellar 2023 season at LSU, has jumped right into stardom in the NFL, leading the Commanders to a stunning 7-2 record on the season and putting himself in the MVP conversation.
It’ll be a significant test for the Steelers in Week 10 — arguably the toughest test of the season to date, at least at the QB situation, which is rather telling in regard to Daniels’ talent.
Going up against Daniels is a matchup that Steelers linebacker and fellow LSU product Patrick Queen is looking forward to. Speaking with reporters Monday coming out of the bye week, Queen stated he has the “utmost respect” for Daniels and believes the rookie QB is doing everything right early in his career, both on and off the field.
“We was just talking about that and I got the utmost respect for him. Just a great quarterback, a great guy. We was just talking about it, it’s like LSU just recruits family-oriented people and stuff, so, just I know the type of guy that he is and that’s leading to his success and his beliefs,” Queen said, according to video via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on YouTube. “He’s doing everything right now. He’s seeing the field. He’s getting the ball to his playmaker and letting him make plays and he got the ball in his hands. He’s making plays as well.
“So, he’s got the utmost confidence right now and you gotta have respect for that.”
Queen and the Steelers do have respect for the young quarterback. Though head coach Mike Tomlin typically dominates rookie quarterbacks in their first matchup against the Steelers, Daniels is a different beast entirely. The NFL as a whole hasn’t figured out how to stop him yet, which is rather telling.
Through his first nine games, Daniels has thrown for 1,945 yards and nine touchdowns to just two interceptions. He’s completing 71.5% of his passes and also has 459 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 82 carries. He’s dealing in the offense of coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and is playing smart, sound football for head coach Dan Quinn, which has the Commanders as a legitimate threat in the NFC.
He’ll face a tough test against the Steelers on Sunday, especially coming off a bye with two weeks to prepare for him, but again no team has truly figured him out. The only thing that slowed him down this season was a rib injury, which knocked him from a game against Carolina early in Week 7. Other than that, Daniels has been outstanding.
Queen has the utmost respect for him and is saying all the right things to the media regarding the young quarterback. But hopefully that respect goes out the window once the two are between the white lines. Queen needs to find a way to play a part in the Steelers derailing the Daniels hype train, at least for one week.
