Marrying Jayden Daniels' visit to Arizona this week as the rookie starting quarterback of the Washington Commanders – they play the Cardinals Sunday – to his three-year stint as Arizona State QB is an obvious storyline.

But the Cardinals are only thinking of the three NFL games Daniels has played, including the last two in which Daniels has led the Commanders to scores on every single drive. No punts. No turnovers.

"He's got a unique skillset, but he can throw it all over the place," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. "He can extend plays. He can throw it down the field. Big-time player."

Daniels was ridiculously good Monday night in a win over the Bengals, completing 21-of-23 passes (91.3 percent!) for 254 yards and two TDs, and adding another 39 yards rushing and a TD. It was reminiscent of … Kyler Murray's performance the week before against the Rams.

But he has only played three NFL games. And usually – usually – rookie QBs are up and down. The Cardinals hope this week can be down.

"You kind of have to look at the big picture a little more when there is less film about him playing in the NFL," defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said, noting it was more about forecasting than tendencies.

The Cardinals – see chart below – have played a bunch of notable rookie quarterbacks over the last decade or so. Most of the time, it's turned into a Cardinals win. Last year, the one time Rallis with the Cardinals got a noteworthy rookie QB, the Cardinals lost to C.J. Stroud, although he threw three of the five interceptions he had all season.

Defensive lineman Dante Stills said the Cardinals want to keep Daniels in the pocket, and he killed the Bengals not only by escaping the rush but spinning and juking his way downfield. The Cards had issues with Bills QB Josh Allen in Week 1, but Allen was more battering ram than Daniels.

It just seems like the Commanders are hoping Daniels can out-Murray Murray. And Kyler needs to make sure that doesn't happen.

-- One last note: the Daniels stat about two straight games with all scoring drives? Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have combined to do that twice total, and that's through 1,094 starts including playoffs.

-- Trey McBride wasn’t ready to be a healthy scratch back in his rookie season of 2022 in his first NFL game. He was so used to playing. Now he's too good to not play. But injuries happen, and McBride's concussion will keep him out Sunday. McBride hasn't had a breakout game yet in 2024, but he remains so important in the passing game and to the offense. He will be missed against a Washington defense that is susceptible to tight ends.

Elijah Higgins figures to get the McBride role. Tip Reiman might get a couple more passes. And we should see Travis Vokolek active for the first time.

-- Feels somewhat ironic that veteran tight end Zach Ertz, whose injury last season opened the door for McBride's time and eventually led to Ertz asking for his release, will play in this game for Washington while McBride will sit out with an injury.

-- Speaking of injuries, Gannon was asked if rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson, who is eligible to come off IR next week with his calf issue, will be back. Gannon said he didn't want to deal in hypotheticals. Rookie tackle Christian Jones and rookie cornerback Elijah Jones also could in theory return.

-- Former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is back for this game as the offensive coordinator for the Commanders. He spoke about Murray and the Cardinals this week as Washington practiced locally at ASU, and not surprisingly, Kingsbury was kind about both Kyler and his time as coach.

About Murray: "Its been fun to watch him. At the end of last year I thought you could see the confidence getting back in the knee and made a bunch of big plays and played really well. They were a couple of plays away from being undefeated (when Kyler came back.) You can see the quickness and the competitive nature is there. It's been great to see. That's a guy I basically banked my entire career on what he would be, and I still believe in it. It's cool to see him playing how he is."

As for how his tenure with the Cardinals ended, he was asked if he was bitter. "Not at all."

"That's why I still have my house here. I love it out here," Kingsbury said. "I will always be grateful to Michael (Bidwill) for giving me the opportunity that he did. First fired college coach to ever get that opportunity. Some of the guys in that building are my closest friends and on the team, James Conner, Budda (Baker), they still inspire me. Nothing but positive memories."

-- Second-string-turned-starting-right-tackle Kelvin Beachum, after missing last week with a hamstring injury, is listed as questionable for a second straight game. Charlie Heck is available on the practice squad, but last week's PS starter, Jackson Barton, landed on IR this week after hurting his toe.

Meanwhile, right guard Will Hernandez shrugs his shoulders when asked about having so many left-of-him neighbors in games thus far – four in three games.

"It's part of football, you know?" Hernandez said. "You're never promised a perfect season, you're never promised a perfect scenario. So it'd be pointless for me to be like, 'Oh this sucks, or 'It's different every week. That's just the truth of it."

-- The defense has played well at times, and has made some significant plays. They have piled up 26 negative plays, which is tied for the NFL lead.

-- The Cardinals played the Commanders just over a year ago. It was the 2023 season opener in Washington D.C. Starting QBs were Joshua Dobbs and Sam Howell, and I'm telling you, it seems way longer ago than a year.

-- Marvin Harrison Jr. and Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil know each other a bit. They were on opposite sides of one of college football's greatest rivalries, with MHJ at Ohio State and Sainristil at Michigan. So, Harrison was asked, is that rivalry between the two still a thing?

"You've got to move on at some point," Harrison said. "College is behind us now. I didn't win any so there isn't much for me to talk about."

Michigan has won three straight in the series – all three Harrison took part in.

-- Kyler Murray's next TD pass with be the 100^th of his career.

-- The Cardinals only have 14 penalties in three games. That's their lowest first-three-game total since 2002. (You remember the 2002 Cardinals, right? Jake Plummer, David Boston in what turned into their final seasons in Arizona and a 4-2 start. We won't talk about the rest of the season.)

-- The last word belongs to Hernandez and the run game, after the Cardinals struggled to run the ball last week. While Gannon said the Cardinals need to be able to pass even if they can't run, Hernandez focused on the ground.

"I'm a big believer you have to be able to run the ball in order to open stuff up. We have players that can make things happen either way and that makes us so good, but at the end of the day we can't be relying on anyone else to get the job done for us. The way I see it, it's the O-line's responsibility to get the run game going. It wasn't good enough, and we can't let it happen again."