The Jayden Daniels rock-star tour continued in Week 5 as he and the Commanders demolished the Browns in a game that never really felt close. It wasn't Daniels' finest performance, yet he connected on two deep-ball touchdowns to aid in Washington's offensive onslaught.
In fact, it was Bo Nix who had his best outing to date, against the Raiders at home. Sean Payton still isn't asking a lot from him, but he made the most of the opportunities given to him to stretch the defense and took care of the football.
There were five quarterbacks selected in the past two NFL Draft classes who saw considerable playing time during a tightly contested Week 5. Let's dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account.
(At least 10 attempts were needed to qualify for this piece, which comes out weekly on Tuesdays.)
Week 5 stats
- 19 of 27 for 206 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Nix made a nice throw downfield near the sideline near converging defenders to Lil'Jordan Humphrey for 21 yards.
- Late in the third, he uncorked a teardrop, around 60 yards in the air to Troy Franklin in the end zone that was dropped.
- On the first play of the fourth quarter, he demonstrated his suddenness and athleticism on an 11-yard scramble.
- While it was a better catch than throw, Nix gave Courtland Sutton a chance on a sideline route that went for 20-plus in the second half.
- His touchdown to Josh Reynold wasn't incredibly difficult, but it was made with the proper touch in the back corner of the end zone.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- Early in the second, he took a bad 13-yard sack when he clearly should've thrown away the football.
- There was a miss on a deep comeback by Sutton, but may have been a miscommunication on the route.
Summary: While the Broncos offense remains extremely screen and quick-throw heavy, this was one of Nix's better performances in isolation. He made a handful of quality throws at the intermediate/deep levels of the field and stayed away from the big mistake. Nice bounce back from last week.
Grade: A-
Season Grade: C
Week 5 stats
- 28 of 38 for 331 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- While not a tremendously difficult, through-traffic throw, Stroud dropped the ball into the bucket deep downfield to Nico Collins for what amounted to a 67-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
- Later in the first half, while under pressure, Stroud threw with perfect touch on a deep over to Tank Dell.
- To start the second half, with an edge rusher in his face, while fading away, he placed a slant to Stefon Diggs perfectly for 18 yards.
- With under five to go in the third quarter, Stroud made a nifty move in the pocket to find a tiny bit of space before finding Diggs for 17 yards.
- On a 3rd-and-9 in the fourth quarter, Stroud put the football up and over a charging underneath defensive back to Dalton Schultz for a big conversion.
- While being hit from an inside rusher, Stroud threw with anticipation and ideal accuracy on a pass to Diggs over the middle to convert another third down in the fourth quarter.
- He bounced off a defensive lineman then fought through a diving tackle attempt by a linebacker to gain 13 yards on a scramble.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- On a third-down play in the third quarter, Stroud held the ball too long, and threw too low to his tight end on a pass that fell incomplete.
- Stroud never saw a sinking Terrel Bernard on his interception. Great diagnosis by the linebacker.
- There was bad awareness and ball security on the strip-sack fumble deep in his own end of the field in the fourth.
- He dangerously overthrew a screen with under three to go.
- The intentional grounding was a bad decision in a key moment.
Summary: Stroud was super sharp as a pocket passer, particularly early in this game. As it progressed, he was fooled by Buffalo's constantly shifting coverages. Altogether, Stroud had a fine afternoon. His placement was mostly outstanding at all three levels and he had many answers on third down. The few bad plays late kept his grade out of the "A" range.
Grade: B+
Season Grade: B-
Week 5 stats
- 20 of 29 for 304 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- Near the end of the first quarter, Williams had an incredible back-and-forth move inside the pocket that culminated with a 6-yard run to get the first down.
- His touchdown with under a minute to go in the first half was a gorgeous lofted strike to D.J. Moore for 30 yards. Looked like it came on his second read, too.
- In the third, Williams threw a frozen rope to Keenan Allen for 19 yards through layers of coverage.
- He got all the way across the field through his progressions to find an open Moore, who dropped the perfect delivery in the fourth quarter.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- His first throw of the game was too far to the inside to Allen and could've been intercepted.
- With under a minute to go in the first half, Williams forced a pass over the middle into double coverage that fell incomplete.
- He overthrew an end-zone shot to Rome Odunze in the third.
- Williams threw behind Moore, who was open, on an in-breaker in the third.
Summary: The level of competition needs to be considered, but this felt like the "he got it" game for Williams. Patient in the pocket. Bounced around with keen awareness. Threw accurately from a variety of arm angles. Showcased accuracy on a few downfield attempts. Scrambled efficiently. Best performance to date from the No. 1 overall pick.
Grade: B+
Season Grade: C
Week 5 stats
- 14 of 25 for 238 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- 11 rushes for 82 yards
High-caliber throws/plays
- In the first quarter, he avoided two Browns defenders, rolled right and found Terry McLaurin deep downfield for a 66-yard gain. Perfectly placed.
- Midway through the first, Daniels eluded an outside rusher, then through a strike through layered coverage while on the run to his right.
- Near the end of the first half, Daniels demonstrated his speed on a 34-yard scamper that came after he made an outside rusher miss.
- Gorgeous high-lofting throw down the right sideline to Dyami Brown for a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
- His final throw of the game was a dime to McLaurin near the sideline in the end zone that was broken up by Martin Emerson at the last second.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- His interception in the red zone was forced. Nice play by linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
- With under a minute to go in the first quarter, he woefully overthrew Zach Ertz streaking down the seam for what would've amounted to a huge gain.
- In the second, he found Ertz standing alone in the flat, and pressure was mounting but not to him yet. He short-armed the throw and it landed a few yards in front of his target.
- There was a slight overthrow on a deep target to McLaurin that was nearly intercepted by a roaming Denzel Ward.
Summary: Daniels wasn't as spectacular throw-to-throw as a few weeks ago, but the Browns defense is one of the most challenging defenses to move the ball against in the NFL. And he sprinkled in a few magical plays, like the deep-ball connections, and his elite-level rushing talent.
Grade: B+
Season Grade: B
Week 5 stats
- 10 of 20 for 94 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
High-caliber throws/plays
- After being forced from the pocket to his left, O'Connell created outside of the structure of the play and found his receiver at the sideline, but he couldn't keep his feet in bounds.
- He threw with anticipation on a comeback run by Tre Tucker that went for 12 yards.
- While rolling left in the fourth, he fit a pass over an underneath defender that got into the arms of his intended target before he drifted out of bounds.
Low-caliber throws/plays
- He missed wide on a simple out-breaking route run by Jakobi Meyers in the fourth.
Summary: As usual, a workmanlike performance from O'Connell. He typically knows where to go with the football and can deliver it accurately. He's just drastically held back by his lack of mobility or arm talent.
Grade: B-
Season Grade: C+
