NASHVILLE – All Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels did last football season was step into LSU’s starting quarterback job without the benefit of knowing the offense and the personnel and guide the Tigers to 10 wins with a victory over Alabama.
And capture the SEC West Division title, a spot in the league championship game and put a school bowl record 63 points on the scoreboard in a Citrus Bowl beatdown of Purdue.
He accounted for 3,798 (2,913 passing, 885 rushing) of LSU’s 6,344 total offense yards, the second-highest team output in school history behind the 2019 national championship team.
Daniels threw for 17 TDs, ran for 11 and became the first LSU player to account for three rushing and three passing TDs in a game decided in regulation.
Yet on the first day of the 38th SEC Media Days staged Monday here at the Grand Hyatt, a writer actually asked Brian Kelly if was still committed to Daniels as the Tigers’ starting quarterback for the Sept. 3 season opener vs. Florida State in Orlando.
Wow. What does a guy do to make the doubters finally disappear?
“Jayden is our starter, he'll start,” Kelly said without hesitation. “But he'll have to continue to improve and progress, because (backup) Garrett Nussmeier 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.”
What held Daniels back in the first half of last season – his reluctance to throw the ball downfield –disappeared over the last six games of the regular season when LSU went 5-1.
It remained a personal point of reference he carried into the spring and now through the off-season.
“The bulk of what we discussed was the need for me to be more aggressive and take more shots,” Daniels said of his conversations with Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “We’re very explosive on the outside with a lot of talented receivers. We have a bond and friendship on and off the field.
“We’ve been focusing on our timing, working as fast as possible, and being smart.
What Daniels went through the first half of last season was the same thing Joe Burrow experienced in his first season at LSU in 2018 after transferring from Ohio State. He was still trying to learn his personnel and the offensive playbook.
The difference between Burrow and Daniels is Burrow tried to stay in the pocket when it collapsed playing to his strength of wanting to throw. Daniels’ comfort zone was taking off and running after holding the ball too long.
Before the disappointing 40-13 loss to Tennessee in Tiger Stadium in game five, Kelly and Daniels had a conversation that helped Daniels see the light.
“Just throw it out there, we’ve got guys there that can make the plays for us,” Kelly told Daniels. “You don't always have to fall back and make a play for myself.”
Kelly said the learning process between he and Daniels was a two-way street.
“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.
“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.”
Daniels felt he and the offense began to turn the corner in the Tennessee loss.
“Even though we lost, I felt comfortable running the offense after that,” Daniels said. “We kind of just took off as an offense of what we were capable of doing and what we knew that we could do. Getting explosive plays, going out there and just taking shots and giving those guys a chance to make plays.”
Tigers’ running back Josh Williams said Daniels has improved weekly from the day he arrived on campus.
“I could see him every day and every game getting more and more confident, especially after the Alabama game,” Williams said. “Going into the offseason, I saw him come in (to the practice facility) more often earlier and stay longer talking to his receivers and his line. guys talking about his receivers, talk on the line, coordinating play around friendship and stuff.
“He’s gotten stronger in the weight room, he’s faster and he’s gotten more competent throwing the ball. He's just taking over the team.”
Daniels spent part of this summer once again making trips back home to California working with an elite group of college quarterbacks.
“The best thing is we all have a healthy respect for each other,” Daniels said. “We watch each other’s games on Saturday. It’s great to see how guys train in the off-season.”
Kelly wants to see Daniels continue where he left off in the Citrus Bowl blowout of Purdue. The game was so lopsided he shared QB duties with Nussmeier, so his stats (67 yards rushing, 12 of 17 passing for 139 yards and 1 TD and a 5-yard TD catch on a pass from wide receiver Malik Nabers) weren’t overwhelming.
But Kelly was pleased with how Daniels accomplished the task that day.
“He was aggressive, but he was under control,” Kelly said. “He ran the ball when he needed to but stepped up in the pocket and made the tight window throws.
“That’s natural progression. We want to see that in year two. 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.”
