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• Commanders take QB Jayden Daniels 2nd in NFL draft

  The Washington Commanders are confident that they have found their franchise quarterback.

  With the second overall pick, the Commanders selected LSU’s Jayden Daniels, one of the most electric dual-threat quarterback prospects in recent memory.

  The reigning Heisman Trophy winner led LSU to a 10-3 season last year and threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He added 1,134 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns.

  On Wednesday, Daniels downplayed reports that he was unhappy with the Commanders conducting a group interview with other top quarterback prospects.

  “I'm blessed to go wherever I'm called,” Daniels told reporters. “Whoever calls my phone, whoever gives the card to the Commissioner that says my name, I'm blessed to go and they're going to get my all.”

  Daniels later clarified that he was “one hundred percent” heading to Washington.

  Despite gaudy production in his senior year, scouts were split on Daniels’ professional prospects, with some wondering if he possesses the pocket passing skills required for the NFL.

  At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Daniels is larger than most dual-threat prospects, and his ability to avoid turnovers his senior year was very promising.

  But Daniels’ Heisman season is an outlier among his five seasons in college – three at Arizona State and the final two at LSU.

  In his first 43 NCAA games, Daniels had a 143.8 passer rating. That number skyrocketed to 208.0 last season.

  Due to his extended college career, Daniels will celebrate his 24th birthday during his rookie season in the NFL, making him significantly older than fellow top quarterback prospects Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.

  Daniels joins a Commanders squad that went 4-13 last season with Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.

  Dan Quinn replaces Ron Rivera as Washington’s head coach, and former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury will take over as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator.

• Patriots select QB Maye with 3rd overall pick

  The New England Patriots hope they now have their franchise quarterback after selecting North Carolina’s Drake Maye with the third overall pick in Thursday's NFL draft. 

  Maye was the third straight quarterback selected after the Chicago Bears took Caleb Williams at No. 1 and the Washington Commanders chose Jayden Daniels second.

  Since Tom Brady departed New England following the 2019 season, the Patriots used Cam Newton as their primary quarterback the following season before drafting Mac Jones 15th overall in 2021.

  Jones had a strong rookie season with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions but tailed off to 24 TDs and 23 picks combined the past two seasons and was traded to Jacksonville in March. 

  Maye likely won’t be the Patriots’ starting quarterback at the start of the 2024 season after veteran signal caller Jacoby Brissett was signed to a one-year contract in March. Brissett has appeared in 79 NFL games with 48 starts and figures to serve as a mentor to Maye.

  There is also the belief that Maye simply won’t be NFL ready in a few months and would be best served to sit a season, like what Patrick Mahomes did for the Chiefs in 2017.

  Maye was the ACC Player of the Year in 2022 in his first season as a full-time starter at North Carolina, also being named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. He broke Mitchell Trubisky’s school record and set an FBS freshman record with 4,321 passing yards and tied Sam Howell’s mark for passing touchdowns with 38 and threw just seven interceptions. He also displayed his mobility with nearly 700 yards rushing and seven scores. 

  This past season wasn’t as productive for Maye, who before the season lost offensive coordinator Phil Longo and receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green to the NFL. Maye was still named to the Second Team All-ACC team as he passed for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 12 games.

  Maye has all the physical tools to succeed in the NFL, namely excellent arm talent and good mobility for someone of his size (6-foot-4, 223 pounds). He made a host of impressive touch throws in college and understands where to deliver a ball for a receiver to make a play on it. 

  There are some issues with Maye’s footwork and his tendency to trust his arm strength almost too much and force some throws. His weaknesses, though, seem like the kind that can be improved upon rather quickly and sitting for a full season - or at least most of one - would help greatly in this area. 

  Maye has drawn comparisons to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. 

  He isn’t quite the natural athlete that Allen is and probably doesn’t have Hebert’s arm strength, but it’s not far-fetched to think Maye could put up similar numbers to those two at the next level given the right coaching and situation. 

• Bears select quarterback Williams with first pick of NFL draft

  The Chicago Bears believe they've found their franchise quarterback.

  In what had been expected for months, the Bears selected Southern California's Caleb Williams with the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday.

  Williams had widely been viewed as a generational quarterback and the most complete QB prospect in decades.

  He now arrives in Chicago to take over a franchise that has been starving for an elite signal-caller.

   

  He joins the Bears after staring at USC, where he won the 2022 Heisman Trophy as the top collegiate player in the United States.

  After throwing for 4,537 yards with 42 touchdowns and five interceptions in 14 games in 2022, he threw for 3,633 yards with 30 TDs and five picks in 12 games last year.

  In his two seasons with the Trojans, he completed 67.5 per cent of his passes and averaged 9.20 yards per attempt.

  Williams is the total package – possessing exceptional arm strength and overall athleticism, able to make plays with his arm and his legs. Groomed from a young age to be pro quarterback, Williams processes opposing defences at a high level, making good decisions with his reads and throwing an accurate, deep ball.

  The Bears had zeroed in on Williams after meeting with him in Los Angeles in March, followed by his visit to Chicago's practice facility earlier this month. The Bears were the only NFL team Williams visited, and the only quarterback Chicago hosted, making it blatantly obvious the team was going to draft him first.

  The Bears also made it clear they were in the market for a quarterback after trading Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in mid-March.

  Fields was the 11th overall pick of the 2021 draft, and though he was well liked by his team-mates and the fanbase and had the ability for dazzling, highlight-reel plays, he was an uneven passer and was unable to elevate Chicago's offence.

  The Bears ranked 27th in passing offence with an average of 182.1 yards per game in 2023, while going 7-10.

  Williams steps into a solid situation with Chicago, as he'll team with new running back D'Andre Swift, a pair of proven wide receivers in DJ Moore and off-season pickup Keenan Allen, and has the luxury of joining a team with a formidable defence.

  The Bears' trade for Moore last off-season helped the franchise draft first overall for the first time since 1947.

  Chicago traded away last year's top pick to the Carolina Panthers for Moore and four draft picks – one of which turned out to be the No. 1 pick they used to draft Williams.