Unlike last offseason, the Tigers enter 2023 with their starting quarterback in place.
[autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] had a breakout season after transferring in from Arizona State, and he’s poised to be one of the SEC’s top passers this fall. But just because he’s the starter doesn’t mean he won’t face competition.
[autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] has impressed when given the opportunity, and coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said both signal-callers are pushing each other this offseason.
“(Daniels will) start,” Kelly said. “But he’ll have to continue to improve and progress, because Garrett is getting better every single day, as well. You want to talk about great competition? It’s about as good as a head coach could hope for at the quarterback position. Jayden is the starter, but he’s got to have a great camp.
“He’s got to continue to progress. He’s got to continue to work. He’s got to continue to move forward, because the guy right there, as well, he wants to take his job, in the right way. They’ve got a great relationship, but he wants his job, too. I think that that’s a really positive situation.”
Kelly went on to discuss the improvements Daniels has made this offseason, including in terms of his toughness and being more aggressive.
“…we knew Jayden as a person, but we really didn’t know him much as a football player and how would he respond in really a new system of offense where he had to make really a 180 in terms of what he was asked to do,” Kelly said. “So, what does development look like for him? I think it would be the natural progression from the last game in which he played where he was aggressive but he was under control. He ran the ball when he needed to but yet stepped up in the pocket and made the tight window throws.
“I think that was the progression from what we saw in the first week where a step up in the pocket meant step up and run, or not making those tight-window throws. I think that’s what we saw during the year was his natural progression of understanding the offense and being more confident. We want to see that in Year 2. We want to see that confidence that we saw at the end of the year continue to show itself right through the first game against Florida State.”
For the first time since Joe Burrow roamed the halls in Baton Rouge, the Tigers enter the season with the quarterback position looking like a strength. If Daniels can take that next step Kelly talked about, he has the chance to become one of the nation’s best quarterbacks and even a potential Heisman competitor.
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