Almost five years ago, Jayden Daniels arrived in Tempe, Arizona, to early enroll at Arizona State. Now, he’s a Heisman Trophy finalist after throwing for the third-most yards in the country and having more rushing yards than any quarterback in the country.
But he didn’t do that at Arizona State. Instead, he did it at LSU, a place he didn’t expect to find himself five years ago.
He isn’t unfamiliar with the spotlight regardless of his change of schools and his spark on the field this season.
Daniels was a four-star recruit out of Cajon High School in San Bernardino, California. According to 247sports, he was ranked as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country, the No. 5 recruit in California and the No. 35 overall recruit in the Class of 2019.
He held 25 Division I offers out of high school, including an offer from LSU. He also held Southeastern Conference offers from Alabama, Tennessee and Florida, where he took an unofficial visit. But it looked like Daniels really wanted to stay on the West Coast.
Two schools seemed to have separated themselves during his senior season in 2018: University of California-Berkeley and UCLA; he took an official visit to Cal on Sept. 1, and UCLA two weeks later on Sept. 15.
Later in Daniels’ senior season, however, two more schools earned themselves official visits: Utah and Arizona State. He took an official visit to Utah on Oct. 20, 2018, and an official visit to Arizona State on Nov. 10.
Arizona State was the last school Daniels visited officially, and it seemed to have made the biggest impression on him. On Dec. 13, 2018, Daniels committed to the Sun Devils, and he signed with them six days later on Early Signing Day.
He enrolled early at Arizona State in January, and it worked well in his favor. In his true freshman season, Daniels completed 205 of 338 pass attempts for 2,943 passing yards and 17 touchdowns through the air. He ran for another 355 yards on the ground on 125 carries and three rushing touchdowns.
As for many players in the country, however, COVID-19 disrupted the momentum Daniels had after his true freshman season.
The Pac-12 started its season in November, and the Sun Devils only had seven games scheduled. Of those seven games, three of them were canceled. That season, Arizona State went 2-2, and Daniels completed 49 of 84 pass attempts for 701 yards and five passing touchdowns. He ran for 223 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries.
The 2021 season was a return to normalcy for Arizona State, but it took more time for Daniels to get his footing. He threw for 10 touchdowns in his junior season in 2021, but he also threw 10 interceptions. But the 2021 season is when Daniels started to separate himself in the run game, as he ran for 710 yards and six touchdowns on 138 carries.
“It was great for me. I still talk to everybody to this day, they support me and are happy for me,” Daniels said of his time at Arizona State.
With the overall regression Daniels saw after his junior season, it was clear he needed a change. On Feb. 17, 2022, Daniels entered his name into the transfer portal, and on March 6, he committed to LSU.
“I don’t regret anything at Arizona State but coming here and really just believing in myself and my talent, plus the LSU platform, obviously, it goes a long way,” Daniels said.
The 2022 transfer portal was loaded with talent at the quarterback position, as defending Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams, fellow Heisman trophy finalist Bo Nix, and the former No. 1 quarterback in the Class of 2019 Spencer Rattler, all entered the portal after the 2021 season.
Any of those quarterbacks could have come to LSU and made an impact right away, but Daniels was the one to do so at the start of the season for the Tigers. After a 24-23 loss to Florida State in the 2022 season opener, many Tiger fans were quick to blame the new quarterback.
After improving to 4-1 on the season, LSU was halted by No. 8 Tennessee with a 40-13 loss at home. But from there, Daniels became a big part of the team’s resurgence. The Tigers went on to win their next five games, and they finished the season 10-3 after a 63-7 win over Purdue in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
In his first season at LSU, Daniels finished his first season at LSU with 2,913 passing yards, which ranked 43rd in the country. But he led all quarterbacks in the country with 885 rushing yards. With the impact Daniels made on the ground in the 2022 season, he was set to have a promising graduate senior season in 2023.
Almost nobody expected it to be as promising as it turned out to be. So promising that it earned him SEC Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year and a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
But it all started in San Bernardino, California, when Daniels decided to continue his athletic career at Arizona State. That experience allowed him to make the decision to come to LSU.
“The work that you put in, day in and day out, matters,” Daniels said. “If you feel like you’re not getting the attention that you need, those are gonna come at some point. God has a plan for everybody.”
