Jayden Daniels

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, winning the 2023 Heisman Trophy with the latter 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.

Early life
Daniels was born on December 18, 2000, in San Bernardino, California. He grew up playing flag football, basketball, and soccer before attending Cajon High School. Daniels, named the starting quarterback of Cajon's varsity team as a freshman in 2015, required a medical waiver to play due to entering high school undersized for the position at 130 lb. 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. He also participated in hurdling and the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay sprints at Cajon.

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. He was invited to the 2018 Elite 11 quarterback competition and participated in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Florida, throwing two touchdowns in a win. Daniels, ranked the top dual-threat quarterback prospect of the 2019 college football class by 247Sports, committed to play for the Sun Devils at Arizona State University (ASU). He graduated from Cajon early and enrolled at ASU in January 2019.

Arizona State (2019–2021)
Daniels, named the starter for the 2019 season, was the first freshman quarterback to start opening week for the Sun Devils. He suffered a minor knee injury in a game against the UCLA Bruins that forced him to sit the following week. Daniels was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week in a Week 13 upset win against the Oregon Ducks, scoring three touchdowns and passing for 408 yards. He threw for 17 touchdowns and 2,943 yards on the season, the latter being a school record for a freshman. 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.

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. 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. 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.

LSU (2022–2023)
Daniels transferred to Louisiana State University to play for the LSU Tigers in March 2022, winning a competition over Garrett Nussmeier to be named the starter prior to the 2022 season opener. He led the Tigers to an appearance in the 2022 SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Daniels, entering with a sprained ankle, left the game following a sack by Jalen Carter late in the second quarter. 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. 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.

Daniels was named a team captain for the 2023 season. He entered concussion protocol in a Week 9 game against the Alabama Crimson Tide after a roughing the passer hit by Dallas Turner. Daniels returned the following week against the Florida Gators, setting an 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. He tied another SEC record a week later against the Georgia State Panthers by scoring eight touchdowns. Daniels won the Heisman Trophy among several other awards after setting the FBS 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). He was the third LSU player to win the Heisman behind Billy Cannon in 1959 and Joe Burrow in 2019. 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.

Professional career
Daniels was selected second overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft. He was one of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, tying the 1983 draft for the most in NFL history. Daniels signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $37.75 million fully guaranteed, on June 14, 2024.

Awards

 * Heisman Trophy (2023)
 * Walter Camp Award (2023)
 * Associated Press College Football Player of the Year (2023)
 * Sporting News College Football Player of the Year (2023)
 * Davey O'Brien Award (2023)
 * Manning Award (2023)
 * Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (2023)
 * Consensus All-American (2023)
 * Best College Athlete, Men's Sports (2024 ESPYs)
 * SEC Male Athlete of the Year (2023)
 * SEC Football Offensive Player of the Year (2023)
 * 2022 LSU Tigers football MVP
 * 2019 Sun Bowl MVP
 * 7× SEC Offensive Player of the Week (2022: Week 8, 10; 2023: Week 3, 4, 6, 11, 12)
 * 2× Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (2019: Week 13; 2021: Week 5)

Records

 * FBS single-season passer rating record: 208.0 (2023)
 * Only player in FBS history with 12,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing
 * SEC single-game touchdowns: 8; tied with Joe Burrow (2023)
 * SEC single-game total yards: 606 (2023)
 * LSU career quarterback rushing yards: 2,019
 * LSU single-season total yards: 4,946 (2023)
 * LSU single-season quarterback rushing yards: 1,134 (2023)
 * LSU single-season quarterback rushing touchdowns: 11 (2022)
 * Only player in FBS history to pass for 350+ and rush for 200+ in a game
 * Arizona State freshman passing yards: 2,943 (2019)
 * CIF Southern Section passing touchdowns (170) and yards (14,007)

Personal life
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. He has an older sister named Bianca. His paternal grandparents died from COVID-19 in early 2021. 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. He is a Christian. Daniels grew up a fan of quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, choosing 5 as his uniform number after the former. His favorite meal to prepare is spaghetti and other types of pasta, with his favorite snack being honey buns. Daniels earned an undergraduate degree from Arizona State in December 2021 and pursued a Master of Liberal Arts degree at LSU. In 2024, San Bernardino mayor Helen Tran declared January 20 Jayden Daniels Day and presented him with the key to the city. At the same time, Cajon High School renamed their football stadium after him.

Daniels uses virtual reality (VR) as part of his training. The custom software, designed for VR headsets by the German company Cognilize, incorporates the same playbook used by his team and allows for speed adjustments for players on the opposing defense to assist with gameplanning. He began the practice at LSU during his 2023 Heisman season and continued to use the technology in the NFL. In college, Daniels signed name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals with brands such as Raising Cane's, Powerade, Beats by Dre, and Urban Outfitters. 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. Daniels threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game in June 2024. At the 2024 ESPYs, he presented the Best Play Award alongside Dunne and Lil Wayne.