Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ injury-plagued second season has conjured eerie comparisons to former franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III. But, according to the FOX Sports college football analyst, their stories are quite different.
“Nope, I am a positive thinker,” Griffin said on the most recent episode of his podcast, “Outta Pocket With RGIII” when asked if Daniels’ career will be marred by injury. “I believe that he will bounce back as long as they give him the proper amount of time to fully heal.”
Daniels, who’s missed three games this season due to injury, is currently out indefinitely after suffering a dislocated elbow against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9. Griffin couldn’t help but admit the “Twilight Zone-type” similarities surrounding his and Daniels’ significant injuries, with the former quarterback further injuring his knee in a playoff game against the Seahawks during his rookie season.
While Daniels didn’t get hurt in the playoffs like Griffin, the former No. 2 picks (2012, 2024) were injured in the same stadium on the same yard line and down against the same team. Griffin’s career was derailed after that infamous injury.
Still, Griffin had three reasons why the stories of the pair of Heisman Trophy and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year-winning quarterbacks are “really even close to the same.”
“The organization is in a completely different situation than they were in when I was the quarterback of the Washington Redskins at that time,” Griffin said. “There’s no in-fighting in this organization. The head coach and the owner aren’t fighting about who they want the quarterback to be, how they want the offense to be run, who’s supposed to be in charge. And that’s something that I didn’t know coming into Washington in 2012. The organization right now is not built off toxicity.”
Griffin then cited new owner Josh Harris, general manager Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who he says better understands mobile quarterbacks than his offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, along with some of the pieces on the Commanders’ roster for why Daniels’ situation is not like the one he faced.
“They have ‘Scary Terry’ (Terry McLaurin) at wide receiver. They brought in Zach Ertz. They brought in Bobby Wagner. They had all these leadership pieces in place that were not there before, other than ‘Scary Terry,’ that weren’t there to experience the downfall and all the toxic back-biting stuff that was going on in D.C. before they got there.”
For the third reason, Griffin believes that Quinn might not be dealing with the same pressure that former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan dealt with when the dynamic QB arrived in town.
“The coach isn’t on the hot seat,” Griffin said. “When a coach is on the hot seat, they make different decisions. … Often times, coaches on the hot seat will not do what’s in the best interest of the players. They’ll do what’s in the best interest of themselves, and that is what happened in my situation in Washington.”
Shanahan was fired as Washington’s head coach following the 2013 season, posting a 13-19 record in his two seasons with Griffin.
As Daniels continues to battle injury, it’s likely the parallels will be harder to ignore, something Griffin understands for concerned fans who have “PTSD about what happened in 2012.” But, to all the believers, Griffin still made sure to reiterate that Daniels’ story is “not like mine.”
“There’s so many other factors that go into what made my experience in D.C. a unique one for a young kid, a 22, 23-year-old, but Jayden Daniels isn’t experiencing that,” Griffin said.
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