The Washington Commanders have the No. 2 overall pick at quarterback primed to win Offensive Rookie of the Year and lead his team to the playoffs.

Again.

There may be nobody in history better-suited to evaluate Jayden Daniels in the quarterback's first season than Robert Griffin III. After all, Griffin was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2012 NFL draft and selected behind a generational prospect in Andrew Luck much like Daniels was the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft behind a potentially generational prospect in Caleb Williams.

Yet it was Griffin and not Luck who won the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year as he led Washington to the playoffs.

Daniels is in position to potentially do the same thing by completing 69.6 percent of his passes for 2,819 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions to go with 590 yards and six touchdowns on the ground for an 8-5 Commanders squad that looks ready to compete for years to come.

"The most encouraging thing has been how they've been winning without Jayden having to be a superstar," Griffin said. "He is a superstar. He's been playing lights out, high completion percentage, playing winning football, efficient on third downs, protecting the football, running when he needs to. But when you look at his stat line it's not like he's throwing for 350 yards and five touchdowns every game that they win, and they're still winning.

"That is encouraging to me because he doesn't have to be Superman every time out. He can be Superman—we saw the Hail Mary—and he can put the cape on when he needs to. But that's not the only reason they're winning. That, to me, is a sign of a good team."

It was all the more notable that the Hail Mary in Week 8 came against Williams' Chicago Bears, as it set both teams and rookie quarterbacks on different trajectories this season.

It also created a domino effect for the Bears that Griffin was worried about before they even drafted the USC product. RGIII turned heads in the offseason when he suggested Williams should refuse to play for Chicago much like Eli Manning did with the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL draft.

While the comments drew the ire of general manager Ryan Poles and were rather shocking at the time since the Bears had plenty of offensive firepower with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Cole Kmet and D'Andre Swift before they even drafted Williams or Rome Odunze, Griffin ended up being right about the poor organizational structure that was in place.

"I'm not a villain," he said while laughing. "I could have easily gone on a full social media campaign against every single person who ever said anything about what I said about Chicago and what Caleb Williams should do. I have those in the drafts just in case I decide to do that one day."

Williams came into a situation where head coach Matt Eberflus was already on the hot seat and working with a questionable offensive coordinator hire in Shane Waldron. Both have since been fired, and the Bears are sitting at 4-9 and staring at yet another situation where a young quarterback will have to start over with a new coach.

The parallels with the Mitchell Trubisky and John Fox pairing and Justin Fields and Matt Nagy pairing are blindingly obvious in hindsight, but Griffin saw it unfolding before it happened.

"My whole point about Caleb pulling an Eli Manning and telling the Bears he's not coming was to avoid a situation like this," he said. "Caleb Williams, Shedeur Sanders, these guys have opportunities coming into the league now to exercise the power that Eli did so many years ago. That John Elway did so many years ago. To have an organization make a decision on things that have been inconsistent.

"The Bears have strapped their young quarterback drafted in the first round with a coach on the hot seat three consecutive times. All the Bears had to do was make a decision on Matt Eberflus to either fire him or extend him and make it public so it would reduce the public pressure that was already on Eberflus' seat. They never did that, they just decided to repeat the same cycle.

"They're living the literal nightmare that I did not want them to live with Caleb Williams. But Caleb Williams has shown he is a franchise-caliber player. Now they just have to make the right move with a coach. The decision with the next coach and whatever happens with the front office will make or break Caleb Williams' career. It's not because he's not a great player. He is way more than good enough. It's about the Bears not messing him up. We're in that position now, the next coach will be responsible for whether or not the Bears make or break Caleb Williams."

At least football fans will have the opportunity to see quarterbacks in better positions to succeed during Netflix's first NFL broadcast on Christmas Day.

The streaming service will air a double-header of games featuring four AFC contenders and plenty of star power at quarterback when the Kansas City Chiefs face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens face the Houston Texans.

The star power won't be limited to the quarterback position, as Netflix announced Griffin will be part of a coverage team that includes the likes of J.J. Watt, Drew Brees, Kay Adams, Ian Eagle, Mina Kimes, Scott Hanson, Ian Rapoport and others.

"These are the best broadcasters in the world," he said. "For us to be able to all work together under the same umbrella is something that I look at and say, 'wow, this is a massive opportunity, and it's an honor to be associated with all these wonderful broadcasters.'"

He is also excited for the world to see the signal-callers who will be on display.

"There's a special broadcast happening on Christmas Day on Netflix, and it's an opportunity for the NFL to go global," Griffin said. "I think having Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson and C.J. Stroud as the representation for the world to watch NFL football is going to be phenomenal.

"You're going to see the evolution of the quarterback position in every single one of these guys. They're all Black quarterbacks, they all play a dynamic style that's not just in the pocket but also outside it. That's what the NFL quarterback position has become. It's no longer the days of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Dan Marino. It's Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, C.J. Stroud. This is what the quarterback position has become, it's become athletic. I think being able to highlight that and showcase that is going to be really cool to do."

Being part of Netflix's broadcast isn't the only "really cool" thing Griffin has done this month.

He also partnered with USAA ahead of Saturday's Army-Navy Game for the Heroes Huddle Family Football Camp and Recycled Rides Giveaway. Griffin provided coaching and mentoring for military children, caregivers and families at the football camp and, along with NFL legend Joe Theismann, gave two retrofitted vehicles to military families in need at the rides giveaway.

"The experience has been phenomenal," he said. "USAA is an amazing partner. Being a military brat, both parents serving in the Army for 34 years combined, it makes giving back to the military something that's near and dear to my heart. I'm very honored to be a part of this campaign with them for the 125th Army-Navy Game.

"We're making sure our military men and women know that they're not forgotten and their families will never be forgotten. I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that's why Army-Navy is America's Game. It's an opportunity for us all to sit down and say thank you to our past, present and future military men and women who are putting their lives on the line and sacrificing for our families."

The Army-Navy Game is particularly special to Griffin since both of his parents served as sergeants in the U.S. Army.

This year's rivalry showdown promises to be a memorable one, as Army is 11-1 with its only loss coming against Notre Dame. It is coming off a blowout 35-14 victory over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game that saw the victors run for 335 yards and five touchdowns, four of which came from quarterback Bryson Daily.

Navy has also been solid at 8-3 with a loss to Notre Dame, although it has struggled some down the stretch with losses to Rice and the same Tulane team Army just defeated.

"My prediction is that Army wins," Griffin said. "I don't think anyone expected me to say anything else. I'm an Army military brat, so I don't think I could go home if I ever picked Navy. But I also think Army is riding a high, conference champions, Bryson Daily at quarterback has had a Heisman-like year. That will be too much for Navy to stop. I don't think we can predict a blowout because in rivalry games you throw the records away. But I think Army is going to come out on top."

It is quite the lead up to the College Football Playoff, which will feature four first-round matchups on campus pitting Texas against Clemson, Penn State against SMU, Notre Dame against Indiana, and Ohio State against Tennessee.

"It's the matchups," Griffin said. "I'm so excited that the playoff worked out the way it did because we get to see unconventional matchups that we normally wouldn't see. And that's what it's supposed to be about. Yes, it's the best teams in the country. But winning matters. And these are the best winning teams in the country going up against each other. It's the perfect group of matchups."

Griffin recently featured Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on the Outta Pocket with RG3 podcast he co-hosts with his wife, Grete Griffin, and that experience has him circling one game in particular.

"I'm looking at that battle of Indiana with Notre Dame going up against Indiana," he said. "Talking to Marcus Freeman and having the opportunity to sit down with Riley Leonard really showed me how close that team is and the bond they have. They've used it to their advantage getting over that NIU loss."

Now they will attempt to fully move past the loss to Northern Illinois by winning the first-ever 12-team CFP national championship as Griffin and football fans everywhere tune in for the historic event.