Jayden Daniels has drawn comparisons to Robert Griffin III for obvious reasons since the former LSU star was drafted by the Washington Commanders last year, but the latest parallel between the two quarterbacks is another unfortunate one.
Daniels suffered a gruesome elbow injury late in the Commanders’ 38-14 Week 9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. He was diagnosed with a dislocated left elbow and is expected to miss several games, if not the remainder of the season.
The injury to Daniels on Sunday had some eery similarities to the devastating knee injury that Griffin sustained during the NFL playoffs in 2013. Griffin, who had already been playing with a knee sprain, tore several ligaments in his knee when he dropped back to pass and his leg buckled awkwardly underneath him.
Daniels and Griffin both went down late in the fourth quarter of their respective games. They were also both playing against the Seahawks when it happened, and the injuries occurred in a very similar spot on the field at their home stadium.
Jayden Daniels and RGIll's injuries occurred in the same stadium, on the exact same yard line, both on 2nd down, against the same team pic.twitter.com/sj70pQc65b
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) November 3, 2025
There were also questions about whether both Daniels and Griffin should have been playing at the time they suffered their injuries, albeit for different reasons. Fans blasted Dan Quinn for keeping Daniels in the game when the Commanders had no chance of winning. RG3 has admitted he should not have been playing through his sprained knee in 2013, and former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan drew criticism over that as well.
Both Daniels and Griffin were No. 2 overall draft picks who began their careers in Washington with outstanding rookie seasons. The comparisons are unavoidable, but Daniels’ mom recently expressed frustration after people compared her son to RG3. What happened on Sunday night is only going to further that narrative.
