The Washington Commanders engineered for themselves a tremendous upstart turnaround in 2024 season. They finished with a 12-5 record and made the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1991 season.
One of the reasons was the play of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the then-reigning Heisman Trophy winner from LSU, who threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns to just nine interceptions while completing 69 percent of his passes.
But he wasn't alone.
Wideout Terry McLaurin caught 1,096 of those yards and 13 of those touchdowns.
And once McLaurin's contract dispute gets settled (and it will), D.C. will have trade get Deebo Samuel on the other side to help out.
And the team expects more than just the NFC Championship Game in 2025.
So far, Daniels has been impressed with Samuel. ... and yes, his views fly in the face of accusations of Deebo being "fat.''
“Offseason was good, but now you just see what he’s proven year in and year out,” Daniels said, via Arye Pulli of The Sports Place. “I’m excited to throw him a screen and hopefully on the stat sheet it says a touchdown for 80 yards and I didn’t have to do any of the work. I’m excited. He’s a great person. Great fit in the locker room right away. Hopefully we’re gonna see a lot of touchdowns.”
Samuel hasn't been the same player since his magnificent 2021 campaign, where he logged 1,405 yards and six touchdowns en route to his only Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honor.
Has conditioning been a part of his decline? Maybe. But check out this photo going viral that shows that Deebo - who generally plays at about 6-0 and 215 pounds - might be "bigger'' in a good way, too.
The Commanders and Daniels are banking on a Deebo change of address to help him find those large numbers again. ... and by "large numbers,'' we're not talking about pounds.