Mike Smith: Jayden Daniels is the NFL MVP so far

The former Atlanta Falcons coach gives his opinion on the Commanders’ rookie quarterback, the Vikings’ hot start, his Super Bowl pick and much more.

Former Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith says Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has made the best start to an NFL career of any rookie in history.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with the Betway Insider, Smith also discusses the Falcons’ offense, the New York Jets’ firing of Robert Salah, the Minnesota Vikings’ impressive start and which teams are the favourites in the NFL betting to win the Super Bowl.

Looking at the Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback situation, how valuable can this season under Kirk Cousins be for rookie first round pick Michael Penix Jr.?

“It’s going to be very valuable.

“There’s different ways to approach the development of quarterbacks in the NFL. You can take the approach that we took with Matt Ryan which was to put him out there right away and let him learn with in game experience. This worked very well for us.

“Now the Falcons are taking a different approach. They signed a quarterback in free agency with a very good background. Kirk Cousins is an outstanding quarterback. At 36 years old, he understands the game and he’s going to be able to be a great mentor for Michael Penix Jr.

“The Falcons have to feel really comfortable with their quarterback situation because a lot of people don’t have a first-round quarterback as a backup to a 36-year-old who right now is playing as good as anybody.

“Cousins’ 13 years in the NFL are invaluable, especially when he is going to be able to mentor Penix Jr. through some interesting things. Penix Jr. is going to learn a lot sitting on the sidelines. I don’t think you learn as much sitting as you do if you get thrown in the fray but there’s different philosophies and the Falcons think it’s better to have two quarterbacks rather than none. 

“In free agency, they couldn’t pass on Captain Kirk. He had a wonderful game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing for a franchise-record 509 yards. He’s a guy that has won more games than he’s lost and that doesn’t happen a whole lot with veteran quarterbacks who have been on three different teams.

“He’s got a good supporting cast though as well.

“Penix Jr. is going to have to sit this season barring injury but he’s going to learn a whole lot from watching Cousins. Not only on the field on gameday, but how he works through the week. Cousins will be a great mentor, and he is a great guy.

“If the Falcons can get some big leads, they might be able to play Penix Jr.  in the fourth quarter but in their victories so far, they’ve been behind with less than a minute to go. It’s amazing to see what they’ve done and it’s going to galvanize this team for the entire season.

“The Falcons are going to be galvanized because if they’re down with less than five minutes to go, they’ve come back before, and they know what it takes.

“It’s a great way to start the season, not only in the win-loss column but you gain a lot of value in winning in that fashion.”

What are your thoughts on the performances of Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson so far? Do they need to be more consistently involved in the offense?

“It’s a long season. We’re only five games in.

“The thing with the Atlanta Falcons is that they’re very loaded. In the backfield, there’s Robinson but then Tyler Allgeier is getting just as many snaps as Bijan and that’s a good problem to have when you have two good running backs. That’s a position where you want to have depth for the entire season. They’re splitting at about 60/40 at the running back position.

“At the tight end position, Kyle Pitts is a wonderful athlete that creates mismatches and he’s starting to get his opportunities. Some defenses have done things schematically to take him away which means the ball has been going in other directions, but he had his best game of the season against the Buccaneers. I know that the offensive staff in Atlanta want to get him more involved because he is a very dynamic player.

“But when you throw in the running backs and the very strong wide receiver group with Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud, there’s only one ball and one quarterback who has to distribute it.

“It’s going to come down to who defenses try to take away and through the first part of the season, they’ve been trying to take away Kyle Pitts.”

Passing numbers have been down at the start of this season. Why do you think passing offenses haven’t been performing as well?

“The passing numbers for the most part in the first quarter of the season are definitely down.

“The reason for this is defenses have been playing five, six and even seven defensive backs in the game. Offensively, when you’re seeing this many defensive backs on the field, you’ve got an advantage if you want to commit to running the football because of the body types of the DBs in these packages.

“Right now, the biggest issue is when you play small ball on defense with the six or seven DBs, offenses are just going to run the football.

“Running the football is still a lot safer than passing it too. When you run the ball, you can fumble it but in the passing game you can have an interception or a fumble.”

“The run game has been a lot more effective than it has been in previous seasons. It has a whole lot to do with the way defenses are playing with a lot of defensive backs on the field.

“It’s great to see the old school rushing from guys like Derrick Henry though.

“The other thing that has affected the passing numbers is that we’re not seeing a whole lot of traditional quarterbacks like Matt Ryan who sit in the pocket. Now there’s a lot of running quarterbacks who have design run plays just for them.”

The New England Patriots offense has struggled badly. What are your thoughts on their start to the season?

“The Patriots are off to a rotten start so far.

“One reason behind this is that they signed Rhamondre Stevenson to a big contract extension and he’s been a real good player for them, but he has not been able to hold on to the football. Your starting running back can’t put the ball on the ground four times in five games. As Jerod Mayo said, ‘ball security is job security.

“It’s not just on Stevenson. They’ve had some real injury issues and they’ve got to revamp the offensive line that’s not protecting the quarterback.

“They’re giving up almost four sacks a game and that’s tough on any quarterback. It’s getting worse for the Patriots right now because they’ve lost their center David Andrews who is their best offensive lineman and they’ve also lost their rookie offensive tackle Caedan Wallace. Both of those guys are on injured reserve and it’s going to be tough.”

What are your thoughts on the Patriots naming first round pick Drake Maye the new starting quarterback?

“The Patriots tried doing what the Falcons are doing which is putting their first-round draft pick on the sideline to watch.

“But in Atlanta, you have Penix Jr watching Cousins with a pretty solid offensive line and a number of good players around him. So, you’re seeing an experienced quarterback with weapons and seeing what an offense is supposed to look like.

“It’s really tough right now for the Patriots. Drake Maye very well may be a great quarterback but there’s a reason why coach Mayo didn’t name him the starter at the beginning of the season.

“But looking forward, I think Drake Maye is going to be a great quarterback in this league.”

The Minnesota Vikings started well. What are your thoughts on what Sam Darnold and Kevin O’Connell have done so far this season?

“It’s great to see Sam Darnold’s bounce back. His numbers are super impressive this season.

“It’s great to see a guy who has really paid his dues in the league. It hasn’t been a smooth career thus far. He’s a first-round draft pick, it doesn’t work out with the New York Jets, so he goes to three other teams (Carolina, San Francisco and now Minnesota). But now he finds a place (Minnesota) that works. Sometimes it just takes the right surroundings whether it’s the offensive coordinator or head coach.

“Darnold and Kevin O’Connell have hit it off so far. They’re undefeated (5-0) and Darnold is going to be a very good quarterback. A lot of people were fans of him early on but for some reason, he did not play well. He’s got the Minnesota Vikings playing very well and they haven’t beat just anybody too, they’ve beaten strong teams who were playoff teams last season (Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans).

“You have to give kudos to Brian Flores too. He’s got Minnesota’s defensive unit playing unbelievably well. I really like what he’s done.

“He’s doing a great job disguising post snap and pre snap. He’s making it look like one thing prior to the snap and it’s something different on the back end.

“The Vikings are one of the best against the run, they can rush the passer and they lead the league in interceptions. Flores is going to be a head coach again in the NFL. He’ll have learned a lot from his first time as a head coach. He is well thought of not only because of his defensive mind but because he understands the relationship you have to have with the General Manager when putting a team together.”

The Kansas City Chiefs have won their first five games but haven’t necessarily been at their trademark best. What are your thoughts on their start to the season?

“When you’re at the top of the mountain, everybody is trying to knock you off.

“If you’re coaching against the Kansas City Chiefs, you tell your team this is the standard right now in the NFL. Andy Reid has done a great job and is going to be a first ballot Hall of Fame coach.

“Maybe so far this year they haven’t been quite at the standard they were for the previous two Super Bowl winning seasons but let’s not forget they are undefeated (5-0). The bar just keeps rising for them. They’re still the favorites to win the Super Bowl if they stay healthy.

“They’re getting a bit banged up right now. They’ve lost Rashee Rice for the season and Isiah Pacheco has missed time and it’s not easy to replace starting players on the best team of the last two years.

“They definitely have some holes but the best guy at filling holes is Andy Reid on the offensive side.

“You have to give kudos to what Steve Spagnuolo does on the defensive side too. He always puts together a good gameplan and guys that really watch and understand the game know what Spagnuolo does. He makes great in-game decisions when it comes to adjustments too.

“The Chiefs just keep doing what they do. It’s always so much fun to watch them play because Reid is always going to have a few things that he’s going to pull out of his back pocket which make you scratch your head and say, ‘how did they do that?’ He makes the game fun and guys love to play for him.

“So that’s why they win games. They have a great coaching staff with the best quarterback even though his numbers aren’t as good as what people expect them to be.

“There’s such a high standard now that people are putting on Kansas City. Everybody else in the league wants to take them out because that’s a statement win.

“They’re still going to be the team to beat in the AFC unless they get decimated with injuries.”

With the Carolina Panthers benching Bryce Young, do you think the former Alabama quarterback can still be a franchise player? Should the Panthers look to move on?

“I don’t think anyone in Carolina is saying that Bryce Young is not a starting quarterback in the NFL.

“It’s too early to be mentioning moving on from Young, that just doesn’t make sense.

“There’s example after example of guys who were first-round picks, but it doesn’t work out. Then they change zip codes and you start to see improvement.

“This could be down to a number of reasons. It could be the supporting cast that they’ve put around the player or it could be a bad scheme fit.

“When the Chicago Bears parted ways with Justin Fields, he found a home and he’s a starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers who are off to a good start. The same thing happened with Sam Darnold.

“Dave Canales is a very good young coach with an excellent coaching staff. I think there’s more time that needs to be given to these guys to turn this around in Carolina.

“They’ve gone through coaches very quickly and these guys will figure it out, it will just take some time.

“Maybe the quarterback situation will change again during the season too. Maybe Young sitting on the sideline is just what they want for a few games. This could give him a whole different perspective of playing the quarterback position because it’s not all the physical part of it, it’s the mental part as well.

“There’s obviously talent in Young, he was drafted first overall.”

How do you think Caleb Williams did in his first games as a Chicago Bear?

“I have been very impressed with Caleb Williams.

“Young quarterbacks are always going to have a hiccup and sometimes they may make multiple hiccups which make a game look really bad, but I think Caleb has played pretty good the majority of the time.

“They’re going to be competing more as the season goes on.

“Williams is still going to have some moments that rookie quarterbacks usually have, especially with the pressure of being the number one pick, but he’s going to be ok.

“Being a starting quarterback in the NFL is not easy. It’s extremely difficult. The philosophy which the Bears have taken is similar to what we did with Matt Ryan in Atlanta and similar to what the Washington Commanders are doing with Jayden Daniels. There’s no right or wrong way to do it as both have been proven to work.”

The Washington Commanders and Jayden Daniels have surprised so far this season. What have you made of their start?

“If you had to say who is the Rookie of the Year, hands down it is unanimously Jayden Daniels. There’s not another guy to vote for.

“He has done a fantastic job. Everybody thought this was going to be a year of learning for Washington, but Dan Quinn and his staff have done a great job.

“You have to give Daniels his credit. His numbers are off the chart.

“You also have to mention the offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury who has been called the quarterback whisperer. He had his struggles as a head coach in the NFL but he’s the guy who has coached Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and now Daniels. All of those guys have been wonderful quarterbacks in the NFL.

“Quinn has done a great job with his coaching staff and their roster. Marcus Mariota, who is a veteran, is the backup to Daniels and like Daniels, he went second overall and won a Heisman. So, Mariota can be a very good mentor for Daniels, not only on the field but off it as well.

“They’re probably the biggest surprise out of any team because nobody said they’d be leading the NFC East at 4-1 after five games.”

Looking at Daniels’ start, can you remember seeing a rookie quarterback start so well?

“I think this is unprecedented.

“He’s not a gunslinger, he’s a guy who gets out there, plays within himself and within the system while going through his reads. He’s only thrown two interceptions. For a rookie quarterback, that is something.

“What makes him a little bit different is guys in the past could run at the quarterback position, but we weren’t running the zone reads and the run pass options to the volume which Daniels is doing. He is electric.

“If he continues to play at this level, he could potentially be not just the Rookie of the Year, but he could be in the conversation to be MVP.”

Derrick Henry has looked like his old self again. Could his addition prove to be the final piece for the Baltimore Ravens?

“When you talk about running attacks, this one in Baltimore is going to be unstoppable.

“With Henry coming in, now you have another threat in the running game and he leads the league in rushing yards (571 rushing yards). He’s on pace to be the first person to have multiple 2,000-yard rushing seasons (2,027 rushing yards with Tennessee in 2020). Only a handful of people have rushed for 2,000 yards once and he might do it twice!

“It just blows me away that he’s getting better with age.

“You have to give credit to the way Lamar Jackson runs the offense, the way Todd Monken calls the offense and what the offensive line has been able to do upfront.

“The key will be for Jackson, Henry and that offensive line to stay healthy and they’re definitely going to be in the mix in the postseason. It’s a lot of fun to watch the Ravens play

“I feel good about Baltimore and their chances because their division isn’t what people expected it to be. The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns are struggling. Right now, they just have to deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the division.”

The Philadelphia Eagles offense has been inconsistent. Are fans right to be frustrated with Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

“In the NFL, the head coach and the quarterback are usually going to be connected at the hip. They’re the two people who get the blame when there’s no success.

“Philadelphia made a lot of moves in the offseason, not only with the roster but with their coaching staff as well and right now they are struggling.

“The Eagles started strong this year in NFL Week 1 just like they started strong last year before they faded and ended up getting blown out in the playoffs.

“This offseason, they made some changes to the coaching staff and spent a ton of money adjusting their roster bringing in players like Saquon Barkley who is off to a great start but there just feels like there’s something missing in Philadelphia.

“The Jason Kelce retirement has been felt and it’s been magnified because they’ve had some injuries on the offensive line as well.

“They’re going through a rough patch with injuries. Not to make excuses because everyone has injuries, but they’ve been without A. J. Brown. DeVonta Smith has been in concussion protocol. When those two are back, you’re going to see a different Eagles offense.

“The fans in Philadelphia are the most passionate fans in the NFL. When you lose in Philly, it gets magnified sixfold. You have to be able to handle the ups and downs of that fandom because it’s a unique one up in Philly.

“At the heart of it, everybody needs to take a chill pill and calm down. The Eagles have got a lot of good players and once they get healthy, they can turn it around.

“Philly, they’re 2-2, not 0-4 and we have 13 more games.”

With Justin Fields Starting and Russell Wilson recovering from a calf injury, how do you see the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation playing out?

“Justin Fields has had a really good start to the season.

“Mike Tomlin is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He’s very clear about how he wants to handle things and he’s publicly said that right now Fields is the quarterback and they’ll evaluate the position when they need to once Russell Wilson is back from his calf injury.

“The one thing with Tomlin, who is going to be a Hall of Famer, is that he’s a great communicator and he says what he does and he does what he says. To me, that’s a trait that successful coaches have.

“Russell’s injury must be significant if he has not been able to play through the first five games.

“The extremes of calf injuries can be on both sides of the spectrum. Sometimes it can be a small injury when there’s more of a pull rather than a tear. The fact he has not been able to return suggests it’s more of a concerning one.

“It would be great for Wilson to get back for the Steelers because then you have two starting caliber quarterbacks. It’s a lot better to have two really good quarterbacks than one. It’s a good problem to have and I know coach Tomlin will handle it with class and make the decision which is best for the Steelers.”

After a somewhat disappointing start, the New York Jets have parted ways with head coach Robert Saleh. What have you made of the Jets so far this season?

“First, I feel for coach Saleh and his family but this is a production business and the Jets have not looked as good as everyone expected them to be. That’s all the way across the board too, on offense, defense, special teams and coaching.

“They’ve struggled a little bit. Aaron Rodgers has not looked like his old self, but he is coming off a significant injury which cost him the whole of last season.

“Even with the coaching change, I wouldn’t count the Jets out. They probably wanted to spark some new energy into the organization and I would never count Aaron Rodgers out. He’s a four-time NFL MVP and five years after he retires, he’s going to be getting his gold jacket.

“It is a tough day for Jets fans though to be making a coaching change this early in the season.”

The Jets are one of the rumored suitors for Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams. Could reuniting Rodgers with Adams help get the offense clicking?

“Adding weapons is always a good thing and Davante Adams is still one of the top receivers in the NFL. He’s going to make your quarterback a lot better.”

Colorado’s Travis Hunter is one of the Heisman hopefuls. What do you make of his game, and do you think he could be a two-way player in the NFL?

“Travis Hunter is a special, special, talented athlete. He probably could be great in other sports too.

“He is probably the frontrunner to be the Heisman trophy winner. It’s very unique that he is playing both ways and he’s playing so many snaps. He is the first FBS player in thirty years to score 10 touchdowns and record five interceptions.

“What gets me is that he’s already played over 600 snaps this season. That’s over 200 more than the next highest FBS player.

“I do have some concerns. Not about whether he can do it because he obviously can, but you’re putting a lot of wear and tear on that young man’s body when he’s getting that many snaps on both offense and defense. That’s a lot and you might be exposing him to injuries.

“Whether you play in the NFL or college, you only have so many snaps and there is an expiration date.

“It does amaze me how he can go out and participate in that many snaps in a game but still have so much production on both sides of the ball.

“If I was scouting against him, I would tell my team he is a game-changer and a game-wrecker on offense and defense.

“I don’t think playing both ways full time in the NFL ever happens though. There’s a potential of someone doing it like Deion Sanders did but not full time.

“I don’t think there’s any way you would want to expose someone to 17 plus games in an NFL season playing both sides full time. He would have to pick his moments on when to play both sides.

“When you talk about wear and tear, I hope the people advising him remind him that even though he’s a really young guy, we only have so many heartbeats.

“He’s a very talented football player and we would all love to see him get an opportunity to have a very long career in the NFL.”

Even though the season is in its early stages, can you give an early prediction on who you think will win the regular season MVP and who will win the Super Bowl?

“For regular season MVP, I’d have to go with Jayden Daniels without a doubt.

“No one thought that the Washington Commanders would be 4-1 at this point. No one thought that Jayden Daniels would be completing over 75% of his throws. For a rookie through five games, it’s an outstanding accomplishment. It’s the best start I’ve seen from a rookie player, not just rookie quarterback.

“It’s not just the individual stats either. He has led his team and his overall play has been mind-blowing through the first five games.

“The Minnesota Vikings are playing the best football in the NFC.

“On the other side, people may not think they’re playing their absolute best but it’s all about wins and the Kansas City Chiefs are winning. They’re winning without two important pieces on offense in Rice and Pacheco. If Xavier Worthy can continue to progress, I’m going with the Chiefs in the AFC.

“I’m going for the Chiefs vs Vikings in the Super Bowl and the Vikings to win in an upset. It’s way down the road right now but that’s my prediction after seeing the first five weeks of the NFL regular season.”