Washington Commanders

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman is projecting the Washington Commanders taking LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in this year's NFL draft. General manager Adam Peters is reportedly enamored with Daniels, and the team traded last year's starter, Sam Howell, to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason. "I tell people this: Outside of Patrick Mahomes, I haven't coached against someone like this. He's just very hard to defend. We tried to force him to run it to take it out of his hands. The throws he makes and the timing he has, I thought was second to none. He throws the deep ball extremely accurately," one coach said. Daniels has above-average arm strength and all kinds of athleticism, but one of the biggest concerns about him is his size and whether he'll hold up health-wise at the next level.

LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels is set to meet with the New England Patriots on Monday, according to his agent. The Chicago Bears are fully expected to take USC QB Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in this year's NFL draft. The Washington Commanders are on the clock at No. 2 overall and are expected to choose between Daniels and North Carolina QB Drake Maye. Whoever the Commanders pass on, the Patriots are likely to choose as their next franchise signal-caller after giving up on the Mac Jones experiment and trading him to the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason. Daniels probably possesses more immediate upside at the next level, but both he and Maye have higher ceilings than Jones as the Pats look for a solution in the post-Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era.

Veteran free-agent quarterback Jeff Driskel is signing with the Washington Commanders, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. This will be the eighth team the 30-year-old will have been with during his career, and he's likely going to be utilized as a training camp arm more than anything else. Originally picked in the sixth round by the San Francisco 49ers out of Louisiana Tech in 2016, Driskel has completed 58.6% of his passes for 2,394 yards 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 23 career games. He's added 417 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. With Washington almost certainly going to select a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in this month's draft and Marcus Mariota on the roster, it's tough to see Driskel sticking around with the organization into the 2024 regular season.

The Washington Commanders signed free-agent running back Jeremy McNichols to an undisclosed deal on Monday. McNichols spent most of last year on the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad but did play a special teams role in three regular-season games. The former fifth-round pick (162nd overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017 out of Boise State will serve as running back depth in Washington behind Austin Ekeler, Brian Robinson Jr. and Chris Rodriguez Jr. There's a good chance the 28-year-old will be on the team's practice squad to begin the 2024 regular season if he isn't cut after training camp and the preseason. In his six NFL seasons with four different teams, McNichols has only 90 carries for 364 yards and one rushing touchdown, adding 40 receptions for 295 yards and an additional score in 37 games (zero starts).

Free-agent wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus has agreed to terms to sign with the Washington Commanders, according to John Keim of ESPN. Zaccheaus was originally undrafted out of Virginia in the 2019 class, and he spent four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons before one year with the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Overall, the 26-year-old has hauled in 104 passes for 1,492 yards and 10 touchdowns through his first 72 NFL games. With Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson on the roster and Washington likely to take shots on wide receivers in next month's draft, Zaccheaus is unlikely to have a path toward fantasy success in 2024, barring injury. He's likely just a depth piece for a franchise looking to rebuild on the fly.