![]() Daniels with the LSU Tigers in 2023 | |
No. 5 – Washington Commanders | |
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Position: | Quarterback |
Personal information | |
Born: | San Bernardino, California, U.S. | December 18, 2000
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Cajon (San Bernardino) |
College: |
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NFL draft: | 2024 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2 |
Career history | |
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Roster status: | Active |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Player stats at PFR |
Jayden Daniels (born December 18, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played three seasons of college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils and two with the LSU Tigers, where he won the 2023 Heisman Trophy after leading the FBS in total yards and setting the single-season passer rating record. Daniels was selected by the Commanders second overall in the 2024 NFL draft.
Daniels was born on December 18, 2000, in San Bernardino, California.[1][2] He grew up playing flag football, basketball, and soccer before attending Cajon High School in 2015.[1] Daniels, named the starting quarterback of Cajon's varsity team as a freshman, required a medical waiver to play due to entering high school undersized for the position at 130 pounds (59 kg).[1][3] In four seasons, he scored 211 touchdowns (170 passing, 41 rushing) and gained 17,642 yards (14,007 passing, 3,635 rushing), both CIF Southern Section records.[1][4] He also participated in hurdling and the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay sprints at Cajon.[5][6]
Daniels was named the men's recipient of the Ken Hubbs Award, given annually the top high school athletes in San Bernardino, following a Citrus Belt League championship and state finals appearance as a senior in 2018.[a][4] He was invited to the 2018 Elite 11 quarterback competition[b] and participated in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Florida, throwing two touchdowns in a win.[c][7][8] Daniels, ranked the top dual-threat quarterback prospect of the 2019 college football class by 247Sports,[9] committed to play for the Sun Devils at Arizona State University (ASU).[10] He graduated from Cajon early and enrolled at ASU in January 2019.[11]
Daniels, named the starter for the 2019 season, was the first freshman quarterback to start opening week for the Sun Devils.[12] He suffered a minor knee injury in a game against the UCLA Bruins that forced him to sit the following week.[13] Daniels was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week in a Week 13 upset win against the Oregon Ducks,[d] scoring three touchdowns and passing for 408 yards.[14] He threw for 17 touchdowns and 2,943 yards on the season, the latter being a school record for a freshman.[15] He was voted the most valuable player (MVP) of the 2019 Sun Bowl in a win over the Florida State Seminoles and was named a semifinalist for the FWAA's freshman of the year award.[16][17]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniels and the Sun Devils played only four games in the 2020 season. One of the games included a 70–7 win against the Arizona Wildcats, the largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry.[18] He led the Pac-12 in completion percentage (65.4) for the 2021 season, throwing for 2,381 yards with 10 touchdowns and rushing for 710 yards with 6 touchdowns en route to an appearance in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers.[19][20] Due to significant coaching staff turnover following the season, in which several resigned or had been fired following a NCAA investigation into the school for COVID-related recruiting violations, Daniels entered the transfer portal in February 2022.[21]
See also: LSU Tigers statistical leaders |
Daniels transferred to Louisiana State University to play for the LSU Tigers in March 2022,[22] winning a competition over Garrett Nussmeier to be named the starter prior to the 2022 season opener.[23] He led the Tigers to an appearance in the 2022 SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs.[24] Daniels, entering with a sprained ankle, left the game following a sack by Jalen Carter late in the second quarter.[e][24][25] He played the following week in the 2023 Citrus Bowl, catching a touchdown pass from wide receiver Malik Nabers in a 63–7 win over the Purdue Boilermakers.[26] For the season, Daniels accounted for 28 touchdowns (17 passing, 11 rushing) and 3,798 total yards (2,913 passing, 885 rushing), earning the Tigers' football MVP award and named a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award.[27][28]
Daniels was named a team captain for the 2023 season.[29] He entered concussion protocol in a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide after a roughing the passer hit by Dallas Turner.[f][30] Daniels returned the following week against the Florida Gators,[g] setting a SEC record with 606 total yards and becoming the first player in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history to pass for 350 and run for 200 in single game.[31] A week later against the Georgia State Panthers, he tied a school record with eight touchdowns.[h][32] Daniels won the Heisman Trophy among several other awards after setting the NCAA single-season passer rating record (208.0), scoring 50 touchdowns (40 passing, 10 rushing), and leading the NCAA in total yards with 4,946 (3,812 passing, 1,134 rushing).[33] He was the third LSU player to win the Heisman behind Billy Cannon (1959) and Joe Burrow (2019).[33] Daniels sat out of the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl in January to prepare for the NFL draft, finishing his college career with 16,056 total yards, the sixth-highest in FBS history and the only to pass for 12,000 yards while rushing for 3,000.[34][35]
See also: FBS total offense and passing leaders |
Year | School | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
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GP | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
2019 | Arizona State | 12 | 8–4 | 205 | 338 | 60.7 | 2,943 | 8.7 | 17 | 2 | 149.2 | 125 | 355 | 2.8 | 3 | |
2020 | 4 | 2–2 | 49 | 84 | 58.3 | 701 | 8.3 | 5 | 1 | 145.7 | 33 | 223 | 6.8 | 4 | ||
2021 | 13 | 8–5 | 197 | 301 | 65.4 | 2,380 | 7.9 | 10 | 10 | 136.2 | 138 | 710 | 5.1 | 6 | ||
2022 | LSU | 14 | 10–4 | 266 | 388 | 68.6 | 2,913 | 7.5 | 17 | 3 | 144.5 | 186 | 885 | 4.8 | 11 | |
2023 | 12 | 9–3 | 236 | 327 | 72.2 | 3,812 | 11.7 | 40 | 4 | 208.0 | 135 | 1,134 | 8.4 | 10 | ||
Career | 55 | 37–18 | 953 | 1,438 | 66.3 | 12,749 | 8.9 | 89 | 20 | 158.4 | 617 | 3,307 | 5.4 | 34 |
External videos | |
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Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
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6 ft 3+5⁄8 in (1.92 m) |
210 lb (95 kg) |
32+1⁄2 in (0.83 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) | |||||||||
Values from LSU's Pro Day[36][37] |
Daniels was selected second overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft.[38] He was one of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tying the 1983 draft for the most in NFL history.[39] Daniels signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $37.75 million fully guaranteed, on June 14, 2024.[40]
External videos | |
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Daniels was born to Javon "Jay" Daniels, a college football cornerback in the late 1990s for the Washington Huskies and Iowa State Cyclones, and Regina Jackson.[3][52] He has an older sister named Bianca.[52] His paternal grandparents died from COVID-19 in early 2021.[3] In April 2024, Regina was found to have violated NCAA guidelines by booking flights for recruits to visit Arizona State during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[53] He is a Christian.[54] Daniels grew up a fan of quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, choosing 5 as his uniform number after the former.[55] His favorite meal to prepare is spaghetti and other types of pasta, with his favorite snack being honey buns.[56] Daniels earned an undergraduate degree from Arizona State in December 2021 and pursued a Master of Liberal Arts degree at LSU.[1][57][58] In 2024, San Bernardino mayor Helen Tran declared January 20 as Jayden Daniels Day and presented him with the key to the city.[59] At the same time, Cajon High School renamed their football stadium after him.[59]
In college, Daniels signed name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals with brands such as Raising Cane's, Powerade, Beats by Dre, and Urban Outfitters.[60][61][62] He will be featured on The Money Game, a NIL-focused docuseries by Prime Video that followed him, Angel Reese, Flau'jae Johnson, and Livvy Dunne through LSU's 2023–24 sports season.[63] Daniels began training using virtual reality (VR) during his 2023 Heisman season. The custom software was designed by the German company Cognilize for VR headsets and included LSU's playbook and opposing teams, with Daniels attributing it to helping him understand defensive coverages "75 to 80 percent" better by the end of the season.[64] He continued to use the technology in the NFL.[65] Daniels threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in June 2024.[66] He was nominated for the Best College Athlete, Men's Sports award at the 2024 ESPYs.[67]