Commanders QB Athan Kaliakmanis reveals Jayden Daniels reached out

Some were surprised when the Washington Commanders selected Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in the 2026 NFL Draft. It was sort of silly for anyone to be surprised, given that it was a seventh-round pick and quarterback is the most important position on the field.

Sam Hartman hasn't exactly panned out as a potential long-term backup to Jayden Daniels, so Washington, like any good organization, is taking a flier on a young quarterback who has played a lot of football. Kaliakmanis will battle for the No. 3 spot in training camp, unless the Commanders bring in another veteran, like Jeff Driskel to play behind Daniels and Marcus Mariota.

Washington also has a new offensive coordinator, David Blough, who undoubtedly had some say in the Kaliakmanis pick.

On Friday, Kaliakmanis took the field for the first time as a Commander on the opening day of the team's rookie minicamp. After practice, he revealed that he received a text from Daniels shortly after being drafted.

"Jayden texted me, actually, after I got drafted, which was pretty cool," Kaliakmanis told reporters. "And I just got put in a group chat with all of the other QBs, so I can't wait to meet them. Big resumes on every single one of them. Grew up watching some of them, too. Really, really excited to meet them."

He's right, all of Washington's current QBs, including the OC Blough, have impressive resumes. Daniels and Mariota are former Heisman Trophy winners and No. 2 overall picks in the NFL draft, while Hartman started 57 college games between his time at Wake Forest and Notre Dame.

Kaliakmanis is no slouch either, having started 42 career games between his time at and Rutgers, both Big Ten schools.