JD PicKell: What Jayden Daniels needs to do to win LSU's quarterback battle
On3’s JD PicKell recently explained what the LSU Tigers super senior quarterback Myles Brennan must do to win the starting quarterback position for the upcoming season. But he also answered the same question for Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels. The college football analyst believes the junior quarterback can win the job; however, there are a few boxes he must check off first.
“The second player, we’re gonna talk about Jayden Daniels. He transferred from Arizona State and made headlines when there was that Twitter video going around about all his former teammates cleaning out his locker,” said PicKell. “That’s a bad look for him. I don’t love that; I think that says a lot about Arizona State, and it says something about Jayden Daniels.”
When Daniels entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, his teammates quickly turned hostile, as seen in a video that surfaced on Twitter. In the video, Arizona State players are clearing out Daniels’ locker with some choice words. (Warning: This video contains explicit language)
“(Daniels) sucks anyways,” one player is heard saying.
To some, including PicKell, it drew into question Daniels’s leadership in the locker room and with the team. And if he doesn’t want a repeat performance by his new teammates, Daniels must first win them over.
“So the biggest thing for Jayden Daniels right off the bat, you gotta win the locker room. You have to be the guy who’s going to lead this team because if this locker room isn’t bought into you as the quarterback for their program, you will have a hard time even getting this operation started. Now, physically there’s a lot to like about Jayden Daniels — really explosive and adds a whole new element in the run game. One of the things they’re concerned about with him right now is that he’s still trying to figure out this offense.”
A native of San Bernardino, California, Daniels has been Arizona State’s starting quarterback for each of the past three seasons, first getting the nod in 2019, his true freshman season. That year, he threw for 2,943 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions, while holding a 60.7 percent completion rate; all the while, he rushed for 355 yards and three touchdowns. In doing so, he was named an honorable mention for Pac-12 freshman offensive player of the year. This past season, Daniels helped lead Arizona State to a bowl game, throwing for 2,380 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on a 65.4 percent completion rate. His effectiveness on the ground only improved, as he ran for 710 yards and six touchdowns.
“We know he can run. We know they can run the read option with him, and Mike Denbrock, the new OC there, loves that about him. But you have to be able to move the sticks throwing the football. It’s a non-negotiable, especially with guys like Kayshon Boutte and Jack Bech. Those guys need to see the football. They need to have somebody that can throw the football.”
The Tigers have two top-end talents that will likely take their skills to the NFL sometime in the near future in Boutte and Bech. And if LSU wants to have a successful campaign with Daniels running the show, he will have to be able to move the chain with his arms as efficiently as he can with his feet.