Jayden Daniels Scouting Report

Jayden Daniels scouting report

THE LSU OFFENSE was SO FUN to watch, Jayden Daniels 2023 season was incredible. He won the Heisman trophy and had a record-breaking year. He scored 50 total touchdowns on the season and had the best passer rating in a single season by a QB in FBS history, the dude was INSANE this year. But Jayden is older than both Drake Maye and Caleb Williams and only had ONE season of elite production. Jayden spent his first three seasons at Arizona state before transferring to LSU in 2022.Its not that Jayden didn’t show potential, his numbers just paled in comparison to what he did in 2023.EEN as a true freshman in 2019, Jayden threw for nearly 3,000 yards, 17 TDs and just 2 interceptions.

His 2020 season was only 4 games due to Covid, he threw 5 TDs to just 1 int. His junior season he struggled, throwing 10 TDs to 10 interceptions, before bouncing back in his first season at LSU, matching his freshman numbers throwing 17 TDs, with 3 interceptions.

THEN he blew up last year winning the Heisman trophy while throwing 40 TDs, rushing for 10 more and throwing just 4 interceptions on the year.

A TRULY phenomenal season has Jayden projected to be a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. I watched his entire season of 2023 film and a couple games of his Arizona state film, today I want to give a full scouting report on LSU QUARTERBACK JAYDEN DANIELS.

FIRST HIS STRENGTHS –

Jayden Daniels is a big-time passer who is poised in the pocket. He has no trouble progressing through his reads or throwing to anywhere on the field. He has a quick release and arm strength to throw to all 3 levels of the field. He has Elite athleticism, HOME RUN SPEED and is super elusive.

A true dual threat quarterback, who can be a dangerous runner at the next level.

Very dangerous throwing on the run, and does a decent job of keeping his eyes up when scrambling. Is able to avoid defenders effortlessly at times. Jayden is a smart decision maker and takes care of the football, with the lowest turnover rate of all QBs in the nation last year. His leadership qualities should translate, he’s a smart player and really took the LSU offense to another level.

He's a dynamic athlete with a big-time arm and elite accuracy down the field.

Now his WEAKNESSES -Older than other prospects, at 23 years old and was a 5th year senior, who only had one full season of elite production.

Basically, just a 1-year wonder from a production standpoint.

His accuracy can be inconsistent. His release can be also inconsistent at times, and he has issues with his mechanics. I believe the accuracy issues stem from his mechanics, and can be fixed with proper coaching and development. He has a tendency to bail on clean pockets and run before he needs to. His pocket presence is questionable. In a perfect pocket, he can progress through reads, but if he senses pressure, he is QUICK to take off running.

The lack of consistency bothers me. He almost played like a video game at times, where he would operate like a dangerous pocket passer when protection held up but take off like Robert Griffin at the first sign of trouble. HIS PRODUCTION last season was ridiculous, but is it sustainable and how much was it him being an OLDER prospect and taking advantage of his surrounding talent at LSU?

He had the nations best 1-2 punch at receiver. I have a LOT more questions about Jayden Daniels than I do with Caleb Williams.

His biggest weakness is a lack of NFL play strength and his SUPER Thin frame, paired with his inability to properly protect himself. Jayden bulked up over the last year and a half, but still has a SLIGHT frame that I worry about in heading into the NFL. He Needs to learn to protect himself when running. Sometimes he would go out of his way to take extra unnecessary contact.

Jayden Daniels SCARES me. I have SERIOUS questions about how his play style will translate into the NFL. Even with two of the best WRs in the country, he seemed to trust his legs more than his arms in key situations. His frame is not built to stand up as a runner in the NFL. He reminds me of RG3, or Robert griffin, but maybe with an even thinner frame. He had two LEGIT first round talents at wide receiver and a stacked team. He won the Heisman trophy and put up video game type numbers, but there was just SOMETHING Missing when I watched him on tape.

BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR ME, SPECIFICALLY HAS TO DO WITH THE CHICAGO BEARS. IF Jayden Daniels was the guy, trading Justin Fields makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to me. I think Jayden would have been a perfect guy to come in and SIT behind Justin Fields for a year.

Drafting him after trading away Justin doesn’t make sense. I think Jayden would benefit tremendously from a year on the bench in the NFL, this would give him time to bulk up, learn an NFL offense, and work on protecting himself from injury. I guess if that happened, people could argue that he doesn’t need to sit since he’s already an older prospect.

To me Jayden Daniels is one of the HARDEST evaluations in the entire 2023 draft. He has a ton of questions about how his game will translate to the next level, but his skills are so DYNAMIC, that coaches are going to want a chance to work with his skillset.

BUT I DON’T know how to put it other than he SCARES me as a prospect.

I think Jayden needs to be DEVELOPED and coached in the NFL. The best thing for him would be to be drafted by a team that has a GOOD situation. Unfortunately, the commanders and patriots don’t seem to offer that, his BEST hope might be landing in Minnesota, but I would rather NOT have him in our division to be honest.

Let me be clear, I think Jayden Daniels is an awesome prospect, I have him as my 5th highest rated player in this draft. Behind only Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr, Rome Odunze and Drake Maye.

STRICTLY for the Chicago bears, I just don’t see him being the guy. It doesn’t make sense to me, but ive seen crazier things happen in the NFL.

THE BOTTOM LINE Is Jayden Daniels is a DYNAMIC DUAL THREAT QB PROSPECT who is equally capable of beating defenses with his arm or legs.

To me he is NOT on the same level of prospect as Caleb Williams is, coming in a tier below.

JAYDEN DANIELS MIGHT BE THE MOST NFL READY out of all the QB prospects this year, he’s a big time play maker and dual threat QB prospect.

He is a TOUGH Prospect to evaluate, but he should be fun to watch on Sundays in the NFL.

Video Link here = https://youtu.be/qaVG_xSFgMA?si=VdIVPFKPX3ccbWL1