Many of you NFL fans will be drafting your fantasy teams in the next few weeks.
There's a good chance someone in your league, maybe you, will select Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels .
If you end up with Daniels, you'll probably cheer gleefully at your television when he completes a pass or runs for a first down. And you might curse him if he throws an interception.
Bottom line, though, your displays of fantasy-focused emotions will have zero impact on Daniels' on-the-field performances. HE WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU!
But I know someone who might affect Daniels' play a little bit … or maybe a lot. Some of you know him too.
If you haven't heard, former Terre Haute South High School, Purdue, LSU, NFL and Michigan Panthers QB Danny Etling is retired as a player and serving his first season as an NFL assistant coach with the Commanders.
Specifically, he's their assistant quarterbacks coach. Etling joined a staff that includes head coach Dan Quinn, offensive coordinator David Blough , quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams (son of former NFL great Doug Williams) and offensive assistant Wes Welker .
Etling, 32, was on the roster of seven NFL teams — nine separate stints — although he never played in a regular-season game. Even on the practice squads, however, he learned from some of the best to ever line up behind center, including Tom Brady , Matt Ryan , Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers .
"I definitely picked up a lot [of pointers] from each place I played," Etling told me in a phone interview.
"Culminating my [NFL playing] career with Aaron Rodgers [was fun] and actually being in a really great place [Green Bay] and having such a great foundation to learn and take in so much of what he was saying in meetings and what he was teaching and what he was doing himself and how he was preparing.
"I was no longer a rookie. At that point, I had been in the league for five years. So I was able to soak in so much more from that experience than at any other stop."
The last two seasons, Etling played for the Michigan Panthers in the United Football League. In 15 regular-season games (seven starts), he totaled eight touchdown passes, 1,378 passing yards, four interceptions and two rushing TDs.
"It was a good experience, to go out there and actually play and compete," Etling reflected. "It's a different kind of energy you get to have as a starting quarterback. … It was a lot of fun."
Now Etling will be taking all of that knowledge he's been storing in his brain as a player — particularly from his rookie season (2018) with the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots (defeating the Los Angeles Rams in February 2019) — and applying it with Daniels, back-up Marcus Mariota and other QBs vying for a roster spot during the preseason.
A 2013 graduate of Terre Haute South and a seventh-round selection by the Patriots in the 2018 NFL draft, the 6-foot-2 Etling didn't want to give away too much about the Commanders' quarterback plans for 2026. But he's not complaining about the brief experience he's had so far.
"I'm really happy with that [quarterbacks] room," Etling insisted. "They continue to impress us day in and day out with the way they work and the way they lead."
Etling did admit he loves the situation he's found himself in as he transitions into a new phase of his career.
"It's a dream come true for where I'd want to start my coaching career," he mentioned.
Etling couldn't pinpoint exactly when he decided he wanted to be an NFL coach, maybe because it's been in his DNA since birth.
"I definitely knew I always wanted to coach," he emphasized. "I love this game so much and it's given so much back to me. My father [Terre Haute attorney Joe Etling] was such a huge inspiration to me wanting to coach, just because when I was in middle school and when I was a kid, I learned to love these games [in the Vigo County Youth Football League]."
It didn't hurt that Danny's father was his youth coach.
"Since he started putting pads on in fourth grade," Joe Etling replied last summer after I asked when he started watching Danny play.
You might remember that in June 2025, I wrote a column about how Joe had attended every game that Danny suited up for and had a chance to play in — even if he didn't play — throughout Danny's entire athletic career.
Danny still considers his dad one of the best leaders he's ever known.
"Like anything in life, the people who are in leadership roles, they really make a huge difference in what you choose to love and how you go about your work," Danny explained. "I want to be one of those coaches that I would enjoy being around."
Like his father was.
By the way, will Joe Etling still attend all of Danny's games now that he won't be wearing pads anymore?
"That is the plan," Joe replied in a text.
For some reason, I'm not surprised.
And don't be surprised to see Danny Etling around Terre Haute during the off-season. No matter how high he rises in the coaching ranks, he's highly unlikely to forget where he grew up.
"I'm thankful to be from Terre Haute," he said.
