Mel Kiper breaks down mock draft selection of Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall

As the meat of the 2024 NFL Combine approaches, discussions about which prospects might come off the NFL Draft board first are flying. And Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels is generating his fair share of buzz.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper has the LSU quarterback going No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders, behind only USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

In some ways, though, Daniels has a more complete resume than Williams, though. Kiper explained how.

“It’s really interesting, you can critique a little of Caleb Williams late in the year from the Notre Dame game on. You can look at Drake Maye this year,” Kiper said. “You can’t look at Jayden Daniels and say anything was a hiccup or a game that you go, ‘Ehh, that wasn’t so good, it was kind of a red-flag game.’ He didn’t have any of those.”

Indeed, that’s one of the reasons Daniels took home college football’s top prize this year. He was downright electric through virtually every game this season.

Daniels finished with 3,812 yards passing and 40 touchdowns, against just four interceptions. He also added 1,134 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

And it didn’t seem to matter who Daniels was playing.

“He dominated some really good defenses,” Kiper said. “Think about Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide the last two years, what he did against that defense and against Nick Saban and the mastermind he is, right? You think about being able to have that balancing act between being aggressive and not turning it over, we said it all along, he doesn’t fumble and he doesn’t throw interceptions. Yet he’s aggressive with his arm, he’s aggressive with his legs.”

LSU fell to Alabama this year 42-28, largely because Daniels was knocked out of the game with a hard hit in the fourth quarter. The previous year, Daniels had guided LSU to a thrilling overtime win over Alabama.

Kiper sees Daniels going at No. 2 overall mostly because he didn’t have any midseason hiccups like some of the other top prospects at his position.

“Washington I think because of the way Drake Maye had his struggles late it made it easy, this decision,” Kiper said of his mock draft selection. “If you’re Washington you take Jayden Daniels, get that dual-threat quarterback who, by the way, I’ll throw it out there, has drawn comps to Lamar Jackson and Randall Cunningham.”