Marcus Mariota

Tom Pelissero reports the Commanders are hopeful that Jayden Daniels will start next week after returning to practice this week. Daniels wore a brace on his non-throwing elbow this week in practice, and will offseason surgery isn’t off the table, it should allow him to play out this year.

This is trending in a much more positive direction than originally feared – a potential season-ending surgery. Terry McLaurin (likely out this week), Stefon Diggs, Antonio Williams, Chig Okonkwo all have much higher ceilings with Daniels at QB over Marcus Mariota. Fantasy football managers will need to keep an eye on next week’s practice reports.

Commanders superstar QB Jayden Daniels underwent imaging today and will consult with a variety of experts before deciding next step. It is the same injury that limited Daniels to 7 games a year ago. Daniels was off to a strong start in Dallas prior to the injury, completing 11-17 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, while adding 69 yards on 7 carries.

This is obviously a blow for Daniels and the Commanders. He was looking primed to return to his 2024 form, where he ranked No. 3 in Total QBR and No. 4 in Fantasy Points Per Dropback on his way to 3568 passing yards, 891 rushing yards and 31 total touchdowns. Marcus Mariota now steps in as the QB for the foreseeable future. While he did an admirable job filling in for Daniels last year, this will hurt Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs and the ancillary pieces in Washington. Fantasy football managers should stay tuned for further updates.

Deja vu for Jayden Daniels as he suffered a left elbow dislocation against the Dallas Cowboys today, mirroring the injury he suffered in week 9 of last year. As fantasy football managers will remember, Daniels returned 3 weeks after the initial injury only to aggravate it, and ultimately miss the rest of the season. It’s possible the team takes a more cautious approach with their franchise quarterback this time, although that would almost certainly extend his return timeline.

In the meantime,  Marcus Mariota will step into the starting quarterback role for the Washington Commanders. Last year when stepping in for Daniels, Mariota averaged a 61% completion percentage, with 7.5 yards per attempt, and 10 touchdowns across 11 games. Rookie 7th round pick Athan Kaliakmanis will likely step into the QB2 role, unless the team opts to bring in additional competition.

The Washington Commanders added a quarterback at No. 223 in Athan Kaliakmanis, who displayed an 87.6 PFF Passing Grade (20th-best in CFB) with the massive frame to absorb hits and still deliver strikes down the seam. Kaliakmanis is coming off a career-best campaign where he generated 26 Big-Time Throws and a dominant 11.2-yard Average Depth of Target, proving he possesses the aggressive “gunslinger” mentality and high-level processing to operate at the next level if called upon.

In dynasty Superflex formats, Kaliakmanis should be viewed as a taxi-squad add at best as is coming into compete with Marcus Mariota and Sam Hartman for the backup role in Washington behind Jayden Daniels.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said that veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota will get the start in place of the injured Jayden Daniels. This move comes with little surprise, however there was small hope that Daniels could make a late attempt towards starting this week. 

Mariota will face the Las Vegas Raiders at home in what should be a good matchup for fantasy football. After getting pushed around by the Green Bay Packers defense, Mariota will look to get Terry McLaurin going after a slow start. Expect Zach Ertz to get plenty of target share while Deebo Samuel continues to display his diverse skill set.

Fantasy managers who can do a 1:1 replacement should see a decent opportunity for limited dropoff for just this week. Mariota has rushing ability to pop for at least 1 good game in Daniels’ absence. Should this injury linger into multi-week territory, then there could be some major fantasy ramifications. 

Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)