No matter what occurs this weekend, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix have already made NFL historical past.
Daniels, the dual-threat dynamo behind the Washington Commanders’ speedy turnaround, and Nix, whose regular playmaking turned the Denver Broncos into one of many league’s greatest surprises, are solely the fourth pair of rookie quarterbacks to make the playoffs in the identical season after serving as full-time starters.
And whereas the postseason debuts of their predecessors recommend deep playoff runs are unlikely, Daniels and Nix have already demonstrated their talents to defy the chances.
“It’s exciting, but you’ve got to deal with those emotions,” Daniels stated this week. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to go out there and play ball.”
Each quarterbacks are scheduled to play on the street Sunday.
Nix, whose Broncos completed 10-7 and because the AFC’s No. 7 seed, will face the second-seeded Buffalo Payments at 1 p.m. Denver is an 8.5-point underdog.
Daniels, whose Commanders went 12-5 and are the NFC’s No. 6 seed, will play on “Sunday Night Football” towards the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who received the NFC South at 10-7. Regardless of their superior document, the Commanders are three-point underdogs.
Nix and Daniels are the final rookies standing after a 2024 NFL Draft during which a document six quarterbacks had been taken inside the first 12 picks.
It’s doubtless no coincidence that Nix and Daniels each entered the NFL with 5 years of school expertise.
Nix began 61 video games for Auburn and Oregon, profiting from the 2020 season’s COVID-19 waiver that granted an additional 12 months of eligibility. Daniels began 55 video games at Arizona State and LSU.
After successful the Heisman Trophy with the Tigers in 2023, Daniels entered April’s draft with sky-high hype. The Commanders made him the No. 2 general choice — one choose behind fellow quarterback Caleb Williams, who went first to the Chicago Bears.
Daniels, 24, delivered after which some, passing for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns towards 9 interceptions whereas speeding for 891 yards and 6 scores.
He led Washington to eight extra wins than they recorded in 2023 — together with 5 in a row to finish the common season.
One in all his few losses got here towards the Buccaneers, who beat the Commanders, 37-20, in Tampa in Daniels’ NFL debut.
“He can process it really quickly and be onto the next play,” Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury stated of Daniels. “He wants to be perfect, he wants to play great, he wants to win every rep, but once the play is over, he’s onto the next one really quickly, and that’s not easy to do as a young player or an established player, even.”
Nix, in the meantime, was extra of a polarizing prospect. Lauded for his accuracy and talent to restrict errors, Nix arrived with questions on his upside however confirmed sufficient for Sean Payton and the Broncos to make use of the No. 12 general choose on him.
The 24-year-old Nix received off to a gradual begin, failing to throw a landing cross in any of his first three video games, however he broke out quickly after.
He recorded seven video games with a number of landing passes and nil interceptions, together with a four-TD efficiency in a Week 18 win over the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs to clinch the AFC’s ultimate wild-card spot.
Nix completed his rookie 12 months with 3,775 passing yards and 29 touchdowns towards 12 interceptions, together with 430 speeding yards and 4 touchdowns on the bottom.
“This is where I want to be,” Nix stated forward of his playoff debut. “These are the moments that matter. These are the moments that people remember you by, so we’ve just got to go out there and cut it loose.”
These NFL playoffs are set to grow to be the primary with a number of rookie quarterbacks since 2013, when Andrew Luck began for the Indianapolis Colts; Robert Griffin III began for Washington; and Russell Wilson began for the Seattle Seahawks.
Wilson was the one a type of rookies to win his playoff debut, beating Washington in a sport during which Griffin suffered a knee damage that required surgical procedure.
The earlier occasion of a number of rookie starters got here in 2009, when Matt Ryan misplaced his playoff debut with the Atlanta Falcons and Joe Flacco received two playoff video games with the Baltimore Ravens.
The one different event occurred in 1983, when John Elway of the Broncos (though in a reduction look vs. the Seahawks) and Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins each misplaced.
And whereas solely seven rookie quarterbacks have received a playoff begin, neither Daniels nor Nix expects the second to be too large.
“I know it’s cliché, but it’s literally just another game,” Daniels stated. “There’s only a couple of teams that are still playing.”
