With Super Bowl LVIII in the rearview, and the scouting combine just around the corner, it’s time for everyone to study 2024 draft prospects with a more critical eye. And while we’ll obviously have more detailed scouting reports here at Touchdown Wire, we’d like to present thumbnail reports of multiple prospects just to get the game going.
In the case of LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, the arrow is pointing up in every direction. The former Arizona State quarterback, who just finished his second season with the Tigers, won the Heisman Trophy in a season that saw him complete 236 of 332 passes for 3,811 yards, 40 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 143.7. The combination of a completion rate over 70% (Daniels’ was 71.1%), and a yards per attempt average over 10.0 (Daniels’ was 11.5), throwing 10 times more touchdowns than interceptions? Well, there’s a lot to like here.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Daniels finished his 2023 season with 35 completions of 20 or more air yards in 55 attempts for 1,347 yards, 22 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 146.8. Under pressure, he completed 25 of 50 passes for 557 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 123.5. And as a runner, Daniels provided 1,250 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 65 carries — that’s a rather rich 10.4 yards per carry.
There wasn’t much Daniels didn’t do last season at an absurdly high level, and that has planted him in most minds as a high first-round prospect. The tape doesn’t lie, and the tape agrees. Daniels should be seen right up there with (or above) Caleb Williams and Drake Maye as a true franchise quarterback prospect.
Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
PLUSES
— Responsible for 103 explosive plays last season. There isn't really a book on how to stop him at this point.
— Best deep thrower in this draft class, and the best deep fade thrower by a mile.
— Took major steps forward as a pure passer in… pic.twitter.com/mpeAI7Kp5Q— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) February 19, 2024
PLUSES
— Responsible for 103 explosive plays last season. There isn’t really a book on how to stop him at this point.
— Best deep thrower in this draft class, and the best deep fade thrower by a mile.
— Took major steps forward as a pure passer in 2023.
— Full-field reader who can go from touchdown to checkdown and vice versa.
— Most of his 17 explosive runs last season were by design; he’s not just scrambling and bailing back there.
MINUSES
— There is a Wile E. Coyote aspect to his predilection to take cartoonishly bad hits in the open field. He needs Tua’s ju-jitsu guy.
— Occasional delays in processing will have him making inaccurate throws on easy stuff, especially in quick game.
— Has an extra hitch at times when he’s indecisive that allows coverage to converge. Could throw his receivers open more consistently.
Easy first-round grade here. This is all subjective, but I can’t think of a 2024 prospect I’d want more in my facility were I a QB coach.