Jayden Daniels: 'I gave college football, LSU everything I had'
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels knows he left everything he had on the field. In the end, he was rewarded for his effort with the Heisman Trophy.
During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Daniels opened up about his time in college football and what he’s going to look back on, starting with the effort he put into the game and gave to the Tigers.
“I gave college football everything I had, especially at LSU,” Jayden Daniels said. “I poured my heart into this university. I’m excited as the future moves on for my next journey and adventure, but I just love being here. I love building relationships in college football. Those are the times you don’t get back.”
“This past season was fun. We didn’t have the team success that we wanted to, but we still have a chance to go out there and end the season with a bang and win 10 games and end things like that. So, I was just happy that we were in a position to set LSU up for the future.”
LSU came into the 2023 season hoping to win the SEC West again. At 9-3 and with losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, that didn’t happen. Still, at an individual level, Jayden Daniels thrived. He had the best season of his career, completing 72.2 percent of his passes for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns.
After five college seasons, three of which were with Arizona State before he transferred to LSU, Jayden Daniels is now expected to move onto the NFL where he will be one of this year’s most interesting prospects.
Jayden Daniels on playing in ReliaQuest Bowl after winning Heisman
It is fairly standard procedure for star quarterbacks playing in non-College Football Playoff bowl games ahead of the NFL Draft to sit out to avoid injury. Certainly, for Jayden Daniels, that would appear to at least be an option. However, for now, he was non-committal about playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“We’ll see. I’m just trying to enjoy this moment right now,” Daniels said.
If Jayden Daniels does skip the bowl game, nobody will blame him. After all, he’s already left everything on the field for LSU in a historic season. It’s a decision that his head coach, Brian Kelly, has been open about.
“I’m a fan,” Kelly said. “I’m his coach, but I’m a fan of Jayden Daniels, but he’s got to make a decision and clearly I see both sides of it. So, we’ll provide him with all the things necessary for him to make an informed decision. But he hasn’t got to that level yet.”