Jayden Daniels crossed the “cheat code in an arcade game” threshold Saturday night.
The LSU quarterback put up 372 yards through the air and 234 on the ground en route to a five-touchdown performance in a 52-35 win over Florida. It was the first time in FBS history that a quarterback had produced at least 350 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in a game. Daniels’ 606 total yards also set an SEC record.
Daniels’ 85-yard touchdown run up the sideline was the moment that went viral, but my favorite play of his was a 51-yard scramble through the heart of the Florida defense, taking every pursuit angle and snapping it in half.
51 yards for the TOUCHDOWN @JayD__5 is unreal
???? SEC Network pic.twitter.com/QqrFz7Ps61
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) November 12, 2023
It was arguably Daniels’ best day through the air, as well, as he regularly found his receivers in stride for explosive gains.
Comparison is the thief of joy — that’s true in almost all facets of life. It’s hard not to see that silhouette of a young Lamar Jackson, though, when Daniels hits the field for LSU, and some similarities can’t be denied.
Daniels is not as naturally elusive in the open field as Jackson was — at Louisville and during his first few years with the Baltimore Ravens — but the upright stride, light feet and explosive burst upfield are near carbon copies. Jackson was a bit more efficient with his footwork and eyes through his progression, but I’ve noted since September that Daniels has made strides in his willingness to trust his eyes and the structure of LSU’s passing game to give him the right answers.
He has also been a much-improved dropback passer in 2023. His completion rate is up a bit from last year (71 percent from 69 percent in ’22), and he has lowered his sack rate from 10 percent to 6 percent by being less erratic in his pocket management and speeding up his internal clock.
GO DEEPER
Week 11 Saturday Superlatives: Jayden Daniels makes history
The Jackson comparisons hold in throwing styles, too. Daniels has just enough velocity to make throws into closing windows, but his best clips are on layered or touch throws deep downfield. Daniels and the LSU staff leaning into that strength has paid huge dividends for this offense, as Daniels is one of just two FBS QBs with a completion rate over 70 percent and an air-yards-per-attempt average of more than 10.0.
Daniels is not throwing the ball into harm’s way, but he is taking chances and understands his legs are always an explosive checkdown option.
The Heisman feels destined to land in the hands of a QB whose team is in the College Football Playoff/New Year’s Six conversation (unless Marvin Harrison Jr. can claim it), but no one is having a better individual showcase this year than Daniels. Based on his talent and developmental trajectory, it’s becoming easier to get on board with the thought that he might be the third-best QB prospect in this year’s class.
GO DEEPER
Saturday Takeaways: Washington wins another nail-biter
We’ve become so accustomed to and enamored of instant success stories for young quarterbacks that it’s easy to miss on talented players who need a little time. If you’ve been watching Georgia closely, though, you can see the game slowing down for Beck — and his confidence going up as a result.
Beck ranks seventh in the country in EPA per dropback, and he’s fresh off throwing for 306 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a blowout win over Ole Miss. Whether it’s in the play-action or dropback game, Beck is doing a better job each week delivering the ball as his receivers are coming out of their breaks and finding voids in coverages. That success lets him throw with the kind of velocity he’s had since he committed to Georgia.
Dialed up.
Watch Live on ESPN#GoDawgs | @laddmcconkey02 pic.twitter.com/Syoy5nzioU
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) November 12, 2023
There’s still a lot of growth potential left for Beck, and there’s no guarantee he’ll declare for the NFL Draft — even if he leads the Bulldogs to a three-peat. Should Beck turn pro this spring, though, I like what he can become as a pocket passer.
Beck has overtaken Pratt as my pick to catch people by surprise in the NFL.
Pratt and Tulane won against Tulsa on Saturday, but I’ve still been a bit underwhelmed by the quarterback’s play this season. Even though Tulane is a run-first program and he excels in the play-action game, there were higher expectations for what Pratt would produce for this program. He can find guys when they’re schemed open, but his anticipation leaves something to be desired, and he’s not the best at evading pressure or working through uncomfortable pockets.
Pratt missed time early in the year due to injury, but his dataset over the past two years suggests he might be more of a high-end backup than a potential NFL starter.
Other performances of note
Bo Nix, Oregon: 412 passing yards, four TDs
The Pac-12 delivered the latest fireworks between future NFL QBs, with Nix and Oregon getting the better of Caleb Williams and USC.
Nix’s first 161 yards and two touchdowns Saturday — which came on his first two passing attempts — could be chalked up to poor tackling and coverage by USC’s defense. But Nix cut through the Trojans with ease the rest of the night, and his pocket management kept him from being pressured (let alone sacked).
If Nix blows away Washington’s defense in the Pac-12 Championship Game, he could finish his college career with as impressive an arc as we’ve seen — from one of the most unreliable quarterbacks in college football to one of its most consistently productive.
From @BoNix10 to @tezMania15
Not a bad way to start the second half.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/n5pB7ApmVb
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) November 12, 2023
Caleb Williams: 291 passing yards, two total TDs
Williams has to address his awful ball security. He fumbled again Saturday to raise his career tally to 32 in as many starts. USC’s offense has had no schematic answers for blitzes this year, but Williams’ tendency to wildly run around the pocket turns his greatest asset — improvisation — into a liability.
He’s still one of the two most talented passers in this class, alongside North Carolina’s Drake Maye, but the easiest ways to fail in the NFL are to take crippling sacks and be a turnover risk. Williams has shown this year that his raw talent alone isn’t enough to solve all his problems.
(Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; photo of Jayden Daniels: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
2023-11-13 20:00:40
#NFL #Draft #Tracker #Jayden #Daniels #cheat #code #Carson #Beck #rises
