Jayden Daniels is already making big plays and it's only the first day of Commanders training camp

It's easy to see why the Washington Commanders drafted Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick and he's living up to the hype on the first day of training camp.

Per multiple reports from people at practice, Daniels was "dropping dimes" on Day 1, which included a perfect pass to running back Brian Robinson Jr. in the end zone.

Let's remind ourselves that this is still t-shirts and shorts practices - the pads haven't come on, yet. Still, it's awesome to hear that Daniels is hitting the ground running as camp opens up. Now, it's all about carrying the momentum over into Day 2, Day 3, and so on and so forth.

"I think he [Daniels] did a great job," Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin told reporters. "You want to try to try to leave that ball either low and away or high on my outside shoulder, so, even if it's a bang-bang play, I have a chance to get it. Versus [if] you leave the ball inside, then it could get a little muddy.

"He just has a natural feel for that and you can see it by the way he operates, but also by his actions as well."

Marucs Mariota opens camp with the 1s, for now

Per Commanders.com's Zac Selby, Mariota opened up team drills with the 1s. Both he and Daniels were splitting reps with the 1s during mandatory minicamp, so this is no surprise and is exactly on par with expectations in this context.

It's only a matter of time before Daniels assumes the spot, however, and takes it for himself. Unless something absolutely detrimental happens in terms of his development -and I won't even conjure up the other possibility that would give the job to Mariota, but you know damn well what I'm talking about if you've watched football, even at a minimal level throughout your life- Daniels will be the starting quarterback come Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It'll still be interesting to monitor how long it takes Daniels to ascend, though. CJ Stroud split reps with Davis Mills to start camp, last year, but eventually took all the reps as things progressed. Even then, though, the Houston Texans did not officially name Stroud starter until after the preseason.

It's fair to wonder if splitting reps, or even not taking all the first-team reps, affects Daniels' development, but if you ask McLaurin, it's fine when it comes to building a rapport between quarterback and receiver.

"I don't really think so, [but] I guess I'm unique in that way, because I've played with multiple guys," said McLaurin. "So, I've been able to adapt. I think it just forces everybody to communicate a little bit more. Marcus may see something different than Jayden, [who may see] something different than Sam, [or] something different than Jeff. And I think the main aspect is, we come out here knowing what we're doing, executing Kliff's offense, executing the depths, executing the timing and the spacing of each concept.

"And I think as long as guys come out here prepared, studying when we're not in the building, and taking notes while we're in the film room, just naturally, you're going to have a standard of what it's supposed to look like."

The path is clear for Daniels, he just needs to make sure he stays on it. And while there's still a long way to go, he's definitely off to a great start.