Washington Position Group Breakdown: Quarterbacks

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June 4, 2025

by Alex Zeese

Roster Breakdown: Quarterbacks

We have Jayden, everything is fine. The end.

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Okay fine, I guess we need to do an actual breakdown of the quarterbacks on the roster.

Jayden Daniels, 24 years old, 6’4”, 210 lbs

What else can you say about this kid that has not been said by local and national media alike. He’s the NFL’s hotest commodity right now. He’s the reason that the Hogs have more than 1/2 their games in some kind of prime time slot this season.

Daniels’ rookie season was stellar, coming within a game of the Super Bowl. His raw stats were solid and showed him to be the elite dual-threat QB everyone thought he could be coming out of college. But as impressive as his 891 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns were, I think what impresses me the most about this kid is his passing ability, because he showed that even if he were a statue, he can slice defenses up with his arm. He was deadly accurate, going 331 for 480, 69% completion percentage, 3568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.

Some of his advanced metrics really stand out in his 1st season. He had four 4th quarter comeback/game winning drives in the regular season and one in the playoffs vs Tampa as a rookie. For the sake of comparison, Jaylen Hurts has had 9 over his 5 year career. Daniels is nearly 1/2 way there after one season. He was a better quarterback on the road than he was at home, in which he had a 108.2 rating vs a 93.8, respectively.

His quarterback rating on 3rd downs was 102.5. On 4th downs, he was 8 for 8 in pass attempts, and actually had a higher success rate on 4th down than any quarterback in the NFL. Those are the numbers of an unflappable young man. In the red zone last year he was 41 for 66 attempts, with 19 touchdowns and just one interception.

Is there a risk of a sophomore slump? Sure. But this kid is just as likely to win the MVP this year. The last time we said that about a Redskins quarterback, I was born midseason, so I missed games 1-6, and my memories of watching Joe Theismann that year are . . . hazy at best.

Marcus Mariota, 31 years old, 6’4”, 222 lbs

It was impressive how well Mariota worked out for Washington last year. He was an outstanding mentor to Jayden Daniels, a kid who appeared unflappable most the season. At that one moment where things were looking down in the end of the Falcons game he gave the kid that little speech “Stand up. Get your air. Use your god given abilities. Go win us this game” was such a epic little moment, from last season but one that will stick with so many of us fans forever.

Mariota also had an outstanding season when he had to come in and play. He came in for Daniels in 3 games, Cleveland, where he only played 9 snaps, Carolina, and Dallas, in which he threw 34 completions for 44 passes, 364 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Sam Hartman, 25 years old, 6’1″, 209 lbs First, let’s talk about Sam “The most handsome quarterback in the world” Hartman’s stats from 2024. “Fabio Jr.” Hartman was 0 for 0 with 0 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Even in preseason, he only had one game and went 8 for 13 with 83 yards. However, he has formed a close bond with Jayden Daniels, and the two hang out together off and on the field a lot. I feel like that bond probably helped Sam “the most watched 40 yard dash” Hartman stay on the roster last year.

But here’s the fun part about Sam “The Heartthrob” Hartman: he’s quietly made himself into the most popular 3rd string quarterback since the legendary Colt Brennan. In Hartman’s case, it’s thanks to his off-season antics, showing up to Caps playoff games with his teammates and doing whatever this is:

I googled it while you all watched the clip.  This is a celebratory move in hockey that I’m told has the nickname of “chugging beers through a shirt”. Hockey is not known for its great nicknaming of things.

Josh Johnson, 39 years old, 6’3” 219 lbs

He’s the #4 quarterback in the depth chart, here to give the team another arm in camp. Johnson is an old friend who’s come back to re-join the Commanders for training camp. Johnson is possibly the top journeyman quarterback since Ryan Fitzpatrick retired, a wandering samurai of a quarterback. He’s a man who’s lived out of a single duffle bag since he was drafted in 2008, hitchhiking from stadium to stadium like David Banner in the Hulk. He has changed football teams 25 times in his 18-year career, if you include all his times on practice squads and various minor leagues.

Ready for some fun? Here’s his career history:
1. Buccaneers (2008–2011)
2. 49ers (2012)
3. Sacramento Mountain Lions of the original UFL (2012)
4. Browns (2012)
5. Bengals (2013)
6. 49ers, again (2014)
7. Bengals again (2015)
8. Jets (2015)
9. Colts (2015)
10. Bills (2015)
11. Ravens (2016)
12. Giants (2016)
13. Texans (2017)
14. Raiders (2018)
15. Redskins in the disastrous campaign of (2018)
16. The San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football(2019)
17. Lions (2019)
18. Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL(2020)
19. 49ers, again… again (2020)
20. Jets, again(2021)
21. Ravens, again (2021)
22. Broncos (2022)
23. 49ers, again… again…….. again (2022)
24. Ravens, for a 3rd trip (2023–2024)
25. Commanders, again but not really since it’s not the Redskins(2025)

In his career, he has had 45 appearances in NFL games, 9 starts, with 1 win in that famous game here in Washington when they beat the Jaguars. I doubt that Johnson is here to even contend for that 3rd roster spot. They may want to keep him on the squad just to be the team’s code red quarterback if all else goes wrong in the season or at least so they have a guy on speed dial. Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for guys like Johnson, who make a decent career as a wandering quarterback.

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