Buy or sell Commanders' Jayden Daniels in fantasy football for 2026?

[ASFN Admin]

There's a good chance that if you had Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels on your fantasy football roster in 2024, you won your league. Most fantasy owners likely selected Daniels in the middle to later rounds of their fantasy drafts, and he provided elite production, passing for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns, while rushing for 891 yards and six touchdowns.

So, Daniels' value skyrocketed in 2025. Unfortunately, if you chose him last year, you were disappointed: Daniels missed 10 games due to injuries and only played four games from start to finish.

Heading into 2026, it's fair to question where to draft Daniels. In addition to the questions regarding his injuries, he'll also be playing in a new offense. The good news is that Daniels is earning rave reviews for his work in David Blough's offense, but until he does it during the season, the questions will linger.

Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report recently named eight players he would buy or sell for fantasy football in 2026. Davenport said he'd "sell" on Daniels. Davenport is basing his opinion on Daniels' ADP (average draft position), which was No. 66 overall.

Jayden Daniels' first two seasons have been polar opposites. The first was outstanding—over 3,500 passing yards, 25 passing scores, the second-most rushing yards among quarterbacks in the league (891) and top-five fantasy numbers.

Last year, however, was far different. Daniels' per-game passing numbers fell precipitously just about across the board and Daniels played in just seven games due to knee and elbow injuries.

Davenport then shares some numbers from Daniels' 2025 season, compared to 2024, before finishing with this statement.

Frankly, Daniels' downturn in passing efficiency and the lack of a big-time additions to the Washington passing game may be the biggest concerns of all with the youngster this year. Daniels averaged almost 30 fewer passing yards per game last year compared to 2024. If that's the case, there will be that much more pressure on Daniels to do damage with his legs.

And it could be just a matter of time before he lands on the shelf again.

Here's the funny part. He has a big-time receiver: Terry McLaurin. Neither Daniels nor McLaurin were healthy at the same time last season outside of Week 1. Did we forget what the two did together in 2024? Sure, it's fair to be concerned with Daniels' injuries. But, outside of last season, if you look back at his five-year collegiate career and his first NFL seasons, Daniels doesn't have a long history of missing time with injuries.

It's fair to question if Washington has done enough on offense to surround Daniels with more help. The Commanders did add tight end Chig Okonkwo, and the receiver group is deeper than it was in either of Daniels' first two seasons. No, Washington didn't add another big-time receiver opposite of McLaurin — at least not yet — so until someone else steps up, the receiver position outside of McLaurin is a question mark.

It's understandable to have hesitation with picking Daniels in the fourth round of fantasy drafts, but you should probably be careful about waiting too late.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Buy or sell Commanders' Jayden Daniels in fantasy football for 2026?

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