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John Keim, ESPN Staff Writer
ORLANDO, Florida — When Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn discusses his defensive philosophies, he’ll often come back to one point: He wants to confuse the quarterback.
It should come as no surprise, then, that this particular philosophy would inform his search for a quarterback. His defensive background has shaped what he looks for in a QB.
“It definitely has,” Quinn said, “because that’s the person you’re trying to [attack] the most.”
Over the next three weeks, he and Commanders general manager Adam Peters must decide which QB to select with No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft — Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye or perhaps even J.J. McCarthy.
While Peters will make the final call on the selection, this year will mark the first time Quinn has been charged with helping find a quarterback as head coach of a team. Matt Ryan was entering his eighth season when Quinn arrived in Atlanta in 2015.
Like any coach, Quinn wants to see mental and physical toughness, accuracy and arm strength. But he also knows how he likes to mess with quarterbacks as a defensive coordinator — and, as a result, what he wants to see from them.
“How quickly can they process something? ‘OK, it looks like zone but it’s really man-to-man. It’s two-high [safeties], it’s one high,'” Quinn said. “All the triggers you want to get to, can you do it after the ball gets in his hand? Can we disguise [defenses] to make them really have to figure it out after the snap? The best of the best? ‘I can process as I’m taking the ball, as I’m going through the play.’
“That’s what I look for. How do they respond when the unblocked blitzer comes?”
Quinn also has relied on Peters and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for their insight throughout the draft process. Kingsbury has worked with a number of top quarterbacks over the years, from Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech to Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals and, last year, Caleb Williams at USC. Peters has scouted college players since 2003. As an assistant general manager in San Francisco, Peters was part of a group that traded up to draft Trey Lance in 2021 and selected Brock Purdy with the final pick a year later.
Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys after two seasons and only 102 pass attempts in San Francisco. But Purdy became the starter midway through the 2022 seasons and has led the 49ers to back-to-back NFC title games and a Super Bowl appearance.
“You learn more and more every time you do it,” Peters said, “and most of them are mistakes. It’s really hard to evaluate quarterbacks, but you just try to get better and try to understand what you did the last time that was really good and what you did last time that was really bad. Different processes, hopefully there’s not a whole lot of bad things that you did, but you always learn. And so it’s constantly evolving and I don’t think anybody has the magic pill to understand that one. If they do let me know, I’ll hire them.”
But when looking for qualities that they believe can translate to the NFL, there are boxes to check.
“How quickly can a guy make a right decision?” Quinn said. “How quickly can he speed up when a blitz is coming? How quickly can [he] anticipate when those things happen? So, I’ve really been mindful of watching and say not just the throwing motion or the accuracy, but what happens? Can you get out of a bad play?”
Daniels, the 2023 Heisman trophy winner out of LSU, has shown the ability to hurt defenses with his legs, rushing for 1,134 yards last season in addition to 3,812 passing yards and 40 touchdowns.
Quinn said seeing Daniels play against SEC defenses helped in his evaluation.
“Man, they have had concepts and looks and different things and Jayden has been able to really process things quickly,” Quinn said.
Maye is not considered the same level of athlete as Daniels but he, too, can use his legs when needed, rushing for 1,209 yards over his three seasons at North Carolina. Last season, he threw for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdown passes.
“What you see is ability to create and get outside on the run,” Quinn said. “If the protection breaks down, boom, he can create and go. I thought that’s one of his superpowers for sure.”
Quinn said evaluating the quarterback position is different than any other.
“With the quarterback you really have to watch every single play to say did he get them out of a bad play here in a run game? Did he, you know, move outside? So, it’s not just the throws, you encompass everything,” Quinn said. “Don’t just look at the throws but look at an entire game. And then you’ll really have an assessment about ‘Did you scramble to remain a passer? Did you know sometimes a throw away was the best decision right here?’ It wouldn’t show that on the stat sheet, but that was actually a really good decision. And so those are the things that I’ve been digging in on.”