Robert Griffin III pitches Jayden Daniels situation as 'completely different story' from his amid similarities

It’s déjà vu for Washington Commanders fans. Jayden Daniels had an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2024, only to follow it up with an injury-riddled second season in the NFL, prompting fears that he could be following down the same path as former star Robert Griffin III.

Griffin has heard the comparisons between their two stories. However, for the time being, he doesn’t want to see their situations as being similar. After all, he wants to stay positive about the future for Daniels.

“Nope,” Robert Griffin III said. “I am a positive thinker. Okay? I believe that he will bounce back, as long as they give him the proper amount of time to fully heal. Everyone keeps mentioning me on social media, going into all these diatribes about how they’re comparing my situation to Jayden Daniels, but they’re really not even close to the same.”

It’s hard not to see the similarities. In 2012, Washington selected Griffin second overall and he’d go on to become the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and led them to the playoffs. However, he suffered a knee injury and took a step back in terms of on-field success. A mix of injury issues and reduced play took its toll, ending his time in Washington and his NFL career early. Daniels, meanwhile, was the second overall pick in 2024, won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and went to the playoffs. Now, in year two, he’s battling multiple injury issues.

The coincidences continue. Daniels was injured on the same field, against the same team, and on the same yard line as Griffin. Still, that’s all Griffin thinks it is for now, a coincidence.

“Yeah,” Griffin said. “That’s one hell of a coincidence.”

In the case of Jayden Daniels, there was criticism for leaving him in the game during a blowout. It also wasn’t a knee injury. Instead, he was running the ball, putting his arm down to brace himself as he fell to the ground. That caused a massive elbow injury. After, head coach Dan Quinn took blame for the injury.

“I get that,” Dan Quinn said. “I’ve been thinking about it nonstop too and, man, I missed it. … That is 100% on me. Obviously, the hindsight. You don’t want to think that way that an injury would take place. We were more conservative in that spot to run and hand off. Just the end result, obviously I’m bummed. …We didn’t have any read plays on it. The one that he was injured, there’s usually a runner or a throw to the flat, not a scramble. So it wasn’t a designed read or play into that spot. If we run it 50 times it’s either a handoff or a throw 50 times.”

Luckily, reports indicate that the elbow injury wasn’t as severe as initially feared. There was no ligament damage and he won’t need surgery. It’s still a dislocated elbow. However, it’s one he can hopefully return from, once fully healthy, sooner than anticipated.