NFL insider: Commanders likely to take Jayden Daniels with No. 2 pick in NFL draft

For all intents and purposes, the Washington Commanders are on the clock. Caleb Williams is widely expected to go No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears in the 2024 NFL draft, meaning that the real excitement starts at No. 2.

Washington has plenty of options for its second pick as quarterbacks Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy are all expected to come off the board in the top 10, while receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is considered by some to be the top overall prospect in the draft.

However, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler believes that one player in particular is most likely to go No. 2 overall to the Commanders.

“I know that they’re bringing in all of these top quarterbacks for visits — McCarthy, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels. The prevailing theme around the league, other teams I talk to, believe that Jayden Daniels will be that pick,” Fowler said Saturday morning on SportsCenter. “He’s considered the safest No. 2 quarterback in this draft behind Caleb Williams.”

Fowler hasn’t heard from anyone directly in the Commanders organization but is instead passing along info that he has picked up from other teams about what Washington is likely to do.

“We’ll see how that shakes out, but no firm determination from Washington yet. They’re going to go through these visits, they’ve watched all the tape. They’ve broken it down as a staff. They have not set their board yet,” Fowler said.

As for the No. 3 overall pick, the Patriots will have some options behind the Commanders, too. That includes their choice of whichever of the top two quarterbacks are still on the board, or turning to Marvin Harrison Jr. or another playmaker.

“New England’s really prepared for anything, I’m told,” Fowler said. “They believe that Daniels could be that pick at 2, and so they are comfortable with the quarterbacks that would be available there at 3. That’d be Drake Maye. That’d be JJ McCarthy. So the feeling around the league with them as well is that they will sit put, take that quarterback.”

New England is in a position where if it takes a quarterback, he won’t have to play right away.

“They’ve got Jacoby Brissett, who can play a year as sort of a bridge gap quarterback. But they haven’t said anything either,” Fowler said. “You’ve got guys like Marvin Harrison still there available. Do they go that route? But the feeling is that they have to take a quarterback that can be that guy for the future.”

It will be interesting to see what ultimately happens at No. 2 with the Commanders and No. 3 with the Patriots later this month.