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Jayden Daniels may only have 23 games (including the playoffs) under his belt, but his veteran center has seen a mature rookie throughout the 2024 campaign.
Daniels was the second overall pick by the Washington Commanders last year and led them to the NFC title game with an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
“He’s so cool, calm and collected. You can see him on TV too, his face is just locked, he’s in the zone. That’s who he is. He’s very positive, always smiling, always having fun, that’s his flow state. But it was great, you had that veteran feel from him from day one,” Commanders center Tyler Biadasz told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview.
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Washington Commanders center Tyler Biadasz (63) prepares to throw the ball to quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Biadasz came to the Commanders last year after spending his first four years with the Dallas Cowboys. The veteran center and the rookie quarterback therefore had to get to work quickly in order to integrate.
It’s certainly been a learning curve for Biadasz, who went from blocking a pocket passer in Dak Prescott to having nearly 900 rushing yards last season.
“When you go to camp and you spend the whole year with him too, I think the most important characteristic is how certain plays develop throughout the timing, right? And for O-linemen, your job is to block forever, right? And there’s a certain timing of certain plays that can be more specific to action or play-action. That requires more reps and certain looks and certain fronts and variations, where you want to get more Rolodex, you’re looking to get a better feel for things. ” said Biadasz.
“But just in general, how he plays the game, some timing or just how he sees the defense and maybe the look of third down or even first and 10, there’s a fair number of things that you address in your first year with each other when he came in last year. And this year I felt like we really started to get to know how everyone sees him, but also how he communicates and makes calls at home and on the road. We’re always in this way to accumulate good days and good times. games, and let’s come back and see how we can adjust things going forward and continue to have that connection every week.
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) hugs Commanders center Tyler Biadasz (63) before practicing on the second day of training camp at OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park. (Geoff Burke/Omagn Images)
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But perhaps even more important is that the duo grows off the field. So they teamed up to appear in a Campbell commercial, which also featured Daniels’ mother.
“It was really cool to connect right before the season started, because you have this summer break, and I was able to reconnect with Jayden right before the season started,” Biadasz said. “And having this unique commercial, lots of laughs, lots of fun, it was a cool, special bonding moment for sure. And also with traditional Campbell’s Soup growing up, I was always seeing it in commercials and stuff, so it’s great…
“The connection is huge, the chemistry is huge and who you are off the field with your quarterback as your center, that goes a long way. And it goes a long way with every position too, but I think QB and center are very unique in that, it’s almost a lot of telepathy in the sense of knowing what the calls are and everything, but it involves having that feeling of connection.”
Biadasz and Daniels seem to have it all figured out. But now they are tweaking their engine to make it pure power.
Washington Commanders center Tyler Biadasz (63) shakes hands with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) during drills on the first day of minicamp at Commanders Park. (Geoff Burke/Imagn Images)
“The greater part [entering this season] “It’s knowing how we’ve done things and how we’ve executed them, where can we be more effective and continue that trajectory even higher,” he said. “Having these conversations in OTAs and going through them… you get into the tiny, marginal details that you might not think about, but when it comes to the game, you’ve seen [Jacory Croskey-Merritt] find a little hole, and he can jump for seven, fifteen, or even longer. How our running backs can operate like that, but also how we can make even more explosive gains. And by doing this, you will get the results you want. »
