Washington Commanders new franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels has been on the record recently mentioning how he has been given permission to audible in and out of play calls. While quarterbacks are the engine of a football team and should be able to put their teammates in the best possible position to succeed, should this be allowed for a rookie quarterback getting his first NFL start in preseason action?

We are going to analyze some of the Pros and Cons of allowing such a young and inexperienced quarterback to change the plays after reading the defense.

Pros: 

• If Daniels can read the opposing defensive schemes successfully, it gives the team an advantage.
• Giving Daniels this ability makes his teammates and coaching staff trust him more, resulting in better leadership and a strong locker room presence.
• Daniels’ coaches may call a bad play, rather than just run it, he can audible out and “save face” of his coaching staff’s blunders.

Cons: 

• Daniels and the offense could have an increased risk of turnovers if the decisions made are too aggressive.
• If Daniels continues to audible, it may display that he has no trust in his coaching staff and their offensive play calls, which is a recipe for disaster.
• Communication may lack and players could forget the audible play design, resulting in disrupted and negative looking plays.

While these are just three Pros and Cons with Daniels and his ability to audible in and out of play calls, I think from a coaching side of things that it is a smart idea for your quarterback to audible as he is the leader of the entire offense. Why draft an athlete with the second overall selection and not give him all of the keys to the offense?

The other side is that Daniels is only a rookie and just got finished playing his first NFL snaps. Giving such a strong responsibility early can result in negative plays due to lack of knowledge of NFL defensive schemes. It is the preseason where coordinators tend to play a very vanilla scheme. Daniels successfully audibled out of a play resulting in a 42-yard throw on third-and-6, but in the regular season when defensive schemes are in full effect with disguising coverages and blitzes, will Daniels know how to effectively call an audible? This question remains to be seen.

Daniels displayed growth in his first preseason stint and will look to improve as the regular season approaches.

For the Washington Commanders and their coaching staff, giving Daniels full autonomy of the offense is the first big step in changing the culture and getting back on the winning side of things; we will just have to wait and see if that truly is the right move in the long run.