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Mel Kiper Jr.'s most recent mock of the NFL Draft (4.0) has the Minnesota Vikings moving up to the fifth pick to select J.J. McCarthy. That projects four quarterbacks in the top-five slots, bringing a herd of highly valued signal-callers to the NFL and plenty of ammo for our fantasy rookie drafts.
NFL owners seem set in their consensus -- pinning Caleb Williams as the unanimous 1.01 for the NFL Draft, but what if it's not that easy for fantasy? While Williams has proved himself worthy of being a fantasy manager's next franchise centerpiece, Jayden Daniels certainly deserves consideration.
Let's inspect further to see just how good Jayden Daniels was in 2023.
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Jayden Daniels' History and Accolades
Jayden Daniels was a consensus four-star recruit out of Cajon High School (San Bernardino, CA) and regarded by many scouts as the top dual-threat prospect in the class. After appearing in 29 games at Arizona State, he journeyed to LSU to play his final two seasons. After steadily improving throughout college, Daniels put it all together in 2023.
Last year, Daniels set career highs in nearly every passing category and had one of the most efficient college quarterback seasons ever. He finished with a superb line of 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just four interceptions.
Jayden Daniels is the clear #2
Throwing is really awesome.
And his running & speed is truly elite.
In other years (without a Caleb Williams), he’d be a good bet to be #1 overall pick
— Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) March 1, 2024
Across all of college football, just six quarterbacks threw the ball more than Daniels -- one had more TDs and fewer INTs (Bo Nix). Daniels did all this with the highest Passing Efficiency Rating (208.0) in the class among qualified players while completing 72.2% of his passes.
Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in 2023 and just about every other award you could possibly think of -- and some you can't. He was SEC Offensive Player of the Year and was honored as SEC Offensive Player of the Week on five (!) separate occasions.
Hmmm. A former LSU Heisman-winning quarterback who spent three years at a different "state" school and would go on to explode with two superstar wide receivers in his final season with the Tigers. That doesn't sound unlike Joe Burrow. Jayden Daniels never threw for 60 TDs, but Burrow's athleticism is nowhere near Daniels.
Dynamic Dual-Threat Ability
Passing numbers aside, Jayden Daniels brings another game-breaking element to the table -- his legs. He rushed for 3,307 yards throughout his five years in college -- a shortened one in 2020 -- but did most of that damage his last few seasons. In his final three years, Daniels averaged 153 rushing attempts per season. He scored double-digit touchdowns in his final two years and rushed for 1,134 yards in 2023 on 8.4 yards per carry.
My favorite part of Jayden Daniels (@JayD__5) game on tape is simple, he does not give a f*ck about your angles!
His Rookie year highlights are gonna go crazy!
*Turn your phone sideways* #AchoAnalysis #LSU pic.twitter.com/OOgkW0zOqB
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 10, 2024
Over his career, he's had nine instances where he rushed for 100+ yards in a game. Four such came in 2023, and three ended up in his top three outputs -- reaching the pinnacle in a performance against Florida when he threw for 372 yards and three TDs, adding 12 carries for 234 yards and two TDs. He became the first FBS player ever to throw for 350+ and rush for 200+ in the same game -- and the sole player to mark 12,000 passing yards (12,750) and 3,000 rushing yards in a single career.
Daniels has excellent burst, agility, and speed for a quarterback, prompting PlayerProfiler to mark his best comparable player as Lamar Jackson. That'll do just fine.
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