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Breaking down sacks on Jayden Daniels Part One

Reviewing every sack Daniels took in his final year at LSU and breaking down what he can learn from them

One of the biggest knocks on quarterback Jayden Daniels going into the draft was his pressure to sack percentage. For those that don’t know, pressure to sack percentage is simply the percentage of times a pressure turns into a sack. In his final year at LSU, Daniels had a pressure to sack percentage of about 20%, meaning for every five times he was pressured, he was sacked once. That’s a pretty high rate and the concerning thing is that this stat is one that historically tends to translate well to the NFL. Guys with low pressure to sack percentages in college tend to remain that way in the NFL and likewise, quarterbacks with higher rates tend to remain high in the NFL.

The Washington Commanders saw the struggles of that first hand last year. Sam Howell had a similarly high pressure to sack percentage in college and we all saw how that worked out for him last year. The big concern with this stat is that it tends to show guys that take too long to make reads in the pocket and end up getting sacked because they hold the ball too long. That was certainly the case for Howell fairly often last year and has been the case for other quarterbacks with a high pressure to sack percentage, like Justin Fields.

However, each sack is an individual event and not every sack is the fault of the quarterback or down to him holding the ball for too long. They all need context and with that context, we can see if there is a worrying trend underneath that high pressure to sack percentage or if the number is being somewhat overblown while lacking context. So to get that context, I’ve gone back and compiled the sacks taken by Jayden Daniels in his final season at LSU. ESPN’s stat charts have Daniels as taking 22 sacks last season, but they credited him with a sack taken against Army, which I watched and couldn’t find. Even in their play-by-play section, there’s no play where they have Daniels being sacked. So I’m going to call it 21 sacks, which I will split up over two posts. This first post will look at the first 11 sacks Daniels took in order and break down what went wrong and what Daniels can learn from each one.

Sack 1

Situation: Fourth and goal from the one yard line.

Play analysis: LSU lines up in a stacked two by two formation, with two receivers stacked out to the left and two more receivers stacked to the right. The defense shows a Cover-0 look, with two defenders over each stacked set and the rest in the box on the line of scrimmage ready to rush. The FSU defense, however, doesn’t run pure Cover-0, with the two defenders on the edge both faking a rush before sinking back into potential throwing lanes over the middle.

LSU runs two high-low concepts to either side of the formation. To the left, the stacked set runs an out and a flat route while the pair to the right run a basic cross and a spot route. These types of route combinations work best against zone coverages because they put zone defenders in a bind, forcing them to decide between sinking back deep and giving up the easy throw underneath or biting up underneath and giving up the deep route behind them. Thanks to the stacked sets, they can still work against man coverage, but FSU does a pretty good job being sticky in coverage here and taking away the options, at least initially.

Daniels works to his left off the snap, but neither option is available. He quickly comes back to his right, but the receiver running the in-breaking route hasn’t made his cut yet. Daniels tries to wait on him, but the pressure arrives. He starts to sink back to try and buy more time, but then he spots a defender sinking back underneath the potential throwing window. Daniels attempts to go off script by spinning out and scrambling to his left, but loses his footing and gets sacked.

What Daniels can learn: This sack isn’t really on Daniels as he had nowhere to go with the football when the pressure arrived. If we’re being picky, the thing to learn here is this pair of concepts didn’t give him a quick win that you need against Cover-0 type looks. FSU weren’t hiding their intent to run a Cover-0 style of play, so perhaps going forward Daniels can learn to identify that look pre-snap and perhaps adjust one or both of the route combinations at the line of scrimmage to get more man-beating concepts. On fourth and one, you could maybe argue he should have just thrown it up there anyway and given his guy a chance to make a play as it would have turned over on downs anyway, but there was a pretty big risk of a significant return on any interception.

Sack 5

Situation: First and 10 from the 39 yard line.

Play analysis: On this play, LSU attempts to flood the short side of the field with four receivers all working to one side. The outside receiver runs a deep skinny post while the slot receiver runs a deep over. The tight end runs a wheel route behind those two receivers and the running back swings out to the flat as a fourth option on the checkdown. That leaves a single receiver isolated to the back side on a slant. The Grambling defense does a nice job matching up most of the routes, with the flat defender turning and running with the tight end on the wheel route while the deep safety steps up to bump the slot receivers deep over route. The outside corner does lose a step to the deep post, but the back side safety is alert and sprinting back deep to potentially contest any deep shot. Daniels doesn’t like any of his options and attempts to climb the pocket and scramble for yards himself, but ends up running into a sack.

What Daniels can learn: There were plenty of options for Daniels to make a throw here. The first would be the post route. Yes the back side safety is a potential threat but only on a deep throw with tons of air that gives him a chance to catch up. At the time Daniels hits the top of his drop, the receiver is level with the outside corner, which should be enough for Daniels to pull the trigger. He has the arm talent to beat the safety with the throw, so that would be where Daniels would ideally be throwing the ball on this rep.

Perhaps Daniels felt that safety was more of a threat than it appeared, which is fine if that is the case. But even in that scenario, Daniels still had the running back in the flat as a wide open checkdown. It was even more glaring because the flat defender, who would typically be charging down to the running back in the flat to take that option away, had to turn up the sideline and run with the tight end on the wheel route. That should have been the sign for Daniels to take the checkdown with no flat defender. Instead he attempted to run himself and ran into a needless sack.

Washington Post (paywall)

Commanders minicamp notebook: On the RB tandem and an early-arriving QB

For Kliff Kingsbury, two-back looks with Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. could be Washington’s new change of pace.

In his four seasons as Arizona’s coach, Kingsbury rarely used sets with multiple backs; the Cardinals never had such sets in more than 3.1 percent of their snaps in a season, per TruMedia. But this spring, Kingsbury regularly has deployed split-back formations with Ekeler, Robinson and others.

Kingsbury, who is expected to major in three-wide-receiver sets, could use two-back looks as a change-up in the same way he historically has used sets of multiple tight ends.

Ekeler (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) and Robinson (6-1, 225) are complementary. The Commanders could manipulate opposing defenses with different alignments and presnap motions. Ekeler said he sees himself and Robinson less as competitors and more as “different assets.”

If Kingsbury sticks to one-back sets this season, the backs seem liable to fall into traditional roles: Robinson the early-down, between-the-tackles bruiser and Ekeler the passing-down receiver. But if this spring experiment makes it to Sundays, the Commanders’ offense could have a new feature.

Havrisik has a day

Lucas Havrisik started the kicker competition strong. The 24-year-old, who is with the team on a tryout basis, nailed each of his roughly 10 kicks Wednesday, including a 45-yarder in which the entire team crowded around, hollering and waving arms in an attempt to distract him.

He also nailed a “mayday” drill in which the field goal unit had about 16 seconds of running clock to rush in from the sideline, snap the ball and make a kick from about 30 yards.

The Athletic (paywall)

Commanders QB Jayden Daniels proving to teammates ‘he’s not afraid to get that work in’

Everything is new and hopeful, and the early returns sparkle. Fans, having waited years for a quarterback savior, hope that time has arrived. However, according to one person who fortunately doesn’t think such things, the exciting trend hasn’t made Daniels a star.

“I mean, I ain’t a star quarterback yet. I got a long way to go,” Daniels said following Day 2 of minicamp on Wednesday. “I’m a rookie.”

That reality is something the coaching staff keeps at the forefront of their minds. Coach Dan Quinn revealed Washington installed its offense before the start of minicamp. Some might seize the moment by aggressively pushing to see all the bells and whistles. As is the case from the start, there’s no rushing the young quarterback.

“The expectation is just to see how familiar he is with the concepts,” Quinn said, “and making sure, ‘OK, this one we want to keep, this one we don’t in terms of things he has the most comfort with.’ In this case, just running the system now.”

Veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota primarily took the initial reps during the open portions of organized team activities. After those three weeks, Daniels emerged as the first-team option. His passing anticipation on crossing patterns impressed McLaurin, Washington’s No. 1 target. The day after connecting with a diving Dyami Brown for Tuesday’s top highlight, Daniels found the fourth-year wideout along the right sideline for about a 20-yard gain.

The straight-line speed that caused havoc for college defenders is evident — even if there’s no need for the turbo gear in the padless practices — as is the natural ease when swerving around encroaching linemen and linebackers. Similar to how the coaches aren’t pushing the pace on Daniels, the rookie isn’t racing through these early steps.

“Man, everything,” was his answer when asked for specifics on his workaholic goals. “Playbook, timing up the drops with the concepts. I’m just expanding my football knowledge to go out there so I can finish off minicamp strong. Go back, put in the work.”

Washington concludes its minicamp on Thursday. Then, everyone goes their separate ways until the start of training camp in late July. Daniels returns to his native Southern California for a break before working with his quarterback coach in Huntington Beach. There’s talk of the quarterbacks and receivers getting together in the Los Angeles area. The goal is clear.

“Get ready for training camp and put myself in the best position out there to come out here and compete with the guys and have fun,” Daniels said.

ESPN

Commanders’ Jayden Daniels: ‘I ain’t a star quarterback yet’

[F]rom the time Daniels arrived in Washington, he has preached the same message: He just wants to do his job and is not elevating himself to any status other than rookie. He said he’s working on “everything.” He arrives to the facility daily around 5:45 a.m., watches film and does walk-throughs in the practice bubble with rookie receiver Luke McCaffrey. Daniels has picked the brain of veterans such as linebacker Bobby Wagner.

“If you really, really want to be successful, you want to learn, you want to be a pro at the highest level,” Daniels said, “you got to take knowledge of people, learn from their routines.

“I just want to learn how to go out there and be a pro. And I’m just trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible.”

Commanders.com

Minicamp notebook | Ekeler, Ertz have been valuable assets for Daniels

[T]wo of the oldest active players at their respective positions, Ekeler and Ertz have appeared in a combined 254 games, accounting for 115 total touchdowns. Ertz is fifth on the Eagles’ all-time receiving yards list, while Ekeler has led the league twice in single-season touchdowns.

Aside from passing on some veteran knowledge, having them on the field is a reminder to Daniels that he doesn’t have to make every play by himself.

“If you don’t like it, check it down to Ekeler and let him do what he does,” Daniels said. “Obviously, he’s a very good receiver. You got a QB-friendly tight end in Zach that’s very smart, very intentional with what he does with his route-running.”

Daniels admits he still has much to prove as he prepares for his rookie season, but his approach has earned praise from his more experienced teammates. He arrives to the facility at 5:45 each morning to prepare himself for the day, and he’s spending extra time in the meeting rooms to study up on film.

Commanders Wire

Commanders are better at tight end but don’t forget Armani Rogers

Zach Selby of commanders.com observed the following regarding Rogers during Wednesday’s minicamp action.

Armani Rogers spent the past year recovering from a season-ending injury, but he’s fully healthy now and ready to prove that he deserves a roster spot with the new regime. He made an impressive catch at the start of 11-on-11 drills fighting through some contact to haul in a grab near the middle of the field.

The coaches who signed Rogers are no longer here. General manager Adam Peters is looking for talent, though. Rogers has the talent, and he seems to have taken quickly to the tight end position. This should be a fun battle to watch this summer.

Podcasts & videos

QB Jayden Daniels brings good vibes, work ethic to Commanders minicamp

Photos

Commanders.com

PHOTOS | Commanders minicamp, 06/12

The Washington Commanders were back on the field on Wednesday for their second day of minicamp. Check out the best

NFC East links

Deadspin

Agents: Giants signing former Jaguars CB Tre Herndon

The New York Giants are signing veteran cornerback Tre Herndon, his agents said Wednesday.

Herndon, 28, participated in a minicamp tryout with the Giants on Tuesday.

Herndon recorded 46 tackles and nine passes defensed in 16 games (four starts) with Jacksonville in 2023.

He had three interceptions and 243 tackles in 83 games (34 starts) with the Jaguars since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

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