'I Love Atlanta': Meet LSU's Jayden Daniels, Falcons' Top Target & 'Special' QB

LSU's Jayden Daniels is a Heisman Trophy winner, premiere 2024 NFL Draft prospect and perhaps the apple of the Atlanta Falcons' eye. Here's why, through the eyes of those who played with and against him.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Atlanta Falcons have a quarterback question. Jayden Daniels may be the answer.

Atlanta's fond of Daniels - to the extent some members of the personnel department have the LSU product rated as the top quarterback in the draft, a source told SI's Falcon Report.

"Atlanta, what they're doing over there, Raheem [Morris] and all those guys, getting a new regime in there and being able to go out there - I love Atlanta," Daniels told SI at the NFL Combine. "Atlanta is a great city.

"They have some weapons on the offensive side of the ball and they're on the up and up."

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner has been consistently slotted behind USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye by analysts, but the Falcons - or at least some evaluators on staff - side with Daniels.

Why?

Ask those who played with and against him during his five-year collegiate career, and the answer becomes clear.

Mar 1, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Louisiana State quarterback Jayden Daniels (QB01) talks to the media during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium / Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

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Walk into LSU's football offices at 5:30 a.m. on Mondays, and you'll find Daniels.

Do the same on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and you'll see him there again, too.

It's a schedule Daniels adopted with an eye towards setting himself up for this moment - wearing his gray "QB-01" full-zip hoodie and being the star attraction at 8 a.m. inside the Indiana Convention Center ahead of the NFL Combine.

In Baton Rouge, Daniels routinely brought his receivers together to watch film - before most are even awake. His breakthrough 2023 was merely a byproduct of those early mornings.

"Jayden's been putting in the time, putting in the work," said former LSU receiver Brian Thomas, a projected first-round pick.

But Daniels' time and work doesn't just come in the a.m. - he goes around-the-clock.

During his days at LSU, Daniels would rally receivers together for late-night throwing sessions. He and receiver Malik Nabers, a potential top-10 pick, emphasized to each other they wanted to reach the level they're now at - overlooking endless rows of reporters at Podium 4 in Indianapolis.

Their effort was validated come award season, with Daniels winning nearly top honor - the Heisman, Davey O'Brien, Maxwell and AP Player of the Year, to name a few - and Nabers earning consensus All-American honors.

Without one, it's possible the other doesn't have quite as successful of a season. They knew that - so they spent considerable time together each week.

Nabers recalls a 4th and 7 on Sept. 16 against Mississippi State. Holding a 10-0 lead at the start of the second quarter, Nabers ran a slot-fade, one of the routes he and Daniels practiced over and over again.

Mississippi State's defense was ready for it. Daniels had pressure in his face. Neither mattered. Some 33 yards later, Nabers was in the endzone with his second touchdown of the day.

"They knew it was coming, but they really couldn't stop it," Nabers said. "Jayden got hit on that play also and still was able to throw a good ball."

The chemistry and feel Daniels has for his receivers on the field stems from the relationship he builds with them off of it.

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Ricky Pearsall followed the same career path as Daniels: three years at Arizona State before transferring to the SEC for his final two years.

Pearsall went to Florida, where he twice played against Daniels - and lost both, watching as LSU scored 97 combined points across the two meetings.

But when the two were freshman in Tempe, Pearsall knew Daniels wasn't typical.

One of them may have been a wide-eyed true freshman - but it wasn't Daniels, who started 12 games in his debut season and threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns in an upset victory over No. 5 Oregon.

Daniels was a four-star recruit and top-100 player nationally out of Cajon High School in San Bernardino, California.

Pearsall immediately noticed Daniels' California-cool poise and saw his first impression validated, as Daniels eclipsed 300 yards through the air in five contests and threw 17 touchdowns to just two interceptions in his freshman campaign.

"He has a bunch of intangibles that I think make him special," Pearsall said. "Going into such a high role right away, being a young guy, him stepping up to the plate and performing at a high level speaks a lot about him."

Daniels started 29 games during his time in Tempe, missing only one possible contest due to a knee injury in his freshman season.

He was the first true freshman starting signal caller in Sun Devils history. As a junior, he led the PAC-12 with a 65.4 percent completion rate. He finished his Arizona State career with 32 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions.

For as quality of a teammate as Daniels was to Pearsall, he was equally as good on the field.

"Just his talent level," Pearsall said of what makes Daniels special. "He's dangerous with the ball in his hands, makes the right decisions [and] takes care of the football."

Then, of course, there's the leadership aspect.

There's a bunch of different ways to lead, Pearsall said, but Daniels did so in a manner that helped him gain respect and stature within the Sun Devils' locker room.

"The way he did it was developing those personal relationships with guys inside the locker room," Pearsall said. "I think you've got a little bit more say and you're persuasive when you've got a personal relationship with the guys. Your word just means more."

The 6-4, 210-pound Daniels had no trouble translating this to Baton Rouge, where he helped head coach Brian Kelly establish a culture.

LSU was 11-12 in the two years before Kelly and Daniels arrived. It went 20-7 across Daniels' tenure, beat Alabama for just the second time in a decade and spent time ranked in the top-10 each season.

Daniels joined the Tigers with the weight of restoring an illustrious program back to relevancy. He did exactly that - in large part due to the emphasis he placed on building legitimate relationships with those around him.

"Him knowing me as a person, creating that relationship off the field rather than being on the field," Nabers said. "When you create a relationship off the field, he knows you personally, know where you come from, knows why you play the sport. I feel like that relationship carried on the field."

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Deantre Prince's career at Ole Miss began in 2019.

In his 11th game, the 6-foot cornerback pulled down his second interception - against No. 1 LSU and quarterback Joe Burrow.

To date, Burrow's the best quarterback Prince has played against. The Tigers' quarterback who Prince faced in 2022 and 2023 isn't far behind.

Daniels went 48 of 64 for 662 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions while rushing for 220 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries, leading LSU to 94 combined points.

Two appearances. Ten touchdowns. Nearly 900 yards from scrimmage.

Prince's list of the best quarterbacks he played against across 51 appearances in the SEC is as follows: Burrow, Bryce Young and Daniels.

Burrow and Young both won the Heisman and went No. 1 overall in their respective classes. Daniels already accomplished the first half. He's unlikely to conquer the second, but it doesn't change Prince's assessment of the 23-year-old.

"Very explosive quarterback," Prince said. "He can do all things - run, pass. Got very good receivers on the outside. So, kind of challenging to keep someone like that contained and try to keep the ball out of the air so we know just do the best we can."

As the saying goes - you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. Daniels, at least partially, fits the bill.

He can't be stopped ... but nobody contained him this season. 

Unsurprisingly, Alabama's the team that did it best against his arm, as Daniels went 15 of 24 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Still, he exploded on the ground, turning 11 carries into 163 yards and a score in the Tigers' 42-28 road defeat.

Alabama defensive end Justin Eboigbe had a front-row seat to Daniels' 382-yard performance, marveling at the athletic display he put forth and the Crimson Tide's struggles at keeping him within the pocket.

"Just his ability to not be contained," Eboigbe said of the challenges Daniels presents. "He has a different type of speed. Great player. All you can hope is try to contain him. You expect him to make plays, but just try to contain him as much as you can."

Daniels' speed was a hot topic amongst defenders. He ran a 4.5 40-yard dash at Arizona State, and while he won't run at the Combine, he doesn't need to.

Daniels ran for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns this past season, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. He finished his college career with over 3,300 yards and 34 scores on the ground.

The numbers tell one story. His tape tells another. Live game experience sides with the numbers.

"He's faster in person, for sure," Prince said. "He don't look fast. As it appears on film, he don't look as fast as he is. It seems like he's jogging, but he's really getting 10 yards in probably two or three steps.

"He actually stays full speed when he goes around [you]. Like, he's nice. Very nice, very nice."

Eboigbe, who played five years in the SEC and saw several athletic quarterbacks, found Daniels to be a unique runner.

"It was different in the aspect that you know tape doesn't do it justice," Eboigbe said. "He's a great runner. Guy was very athletic. The scouting report really doesn't do it justice - you just have to go out there and experience it."

Mississippi State cornerback Decamerion Richardson agreed with both evaluations, saying Daniels is one of the top passers he's faced and is faster in person.

Richardson, who led the SEC in tackles among cornerbacks each of the past two years, first cited Daniels' legs as a strength - even though he completed 30 of 34 passes for 361 yards and two scores against the Bulldogs in Week 3.

It's merely another example of the multi-faceted stress Daniels puts on a defense - which one of Prince's teammates at Ole Miss, cornerback Daijahn Anthony, saw firsthand.

"Jayden was a special player because he's definitely fast," Anthony said. "Faster than a lot of quarterbacks and he has an arm on him. He's not just a quarterback that can run, he can throw the ball in any place on the field.

"So, that's what makes him very good."

Daniels' status in the category of college football's elites comes with several boxes checked.

Prince, who put Daniels in that tier with Burrow and Young, twice noted arm strength and the ability to score on the ground as the most important aspects of reaching that level.

Questions come with any prospect. Daniels appeared to like the answers he provided the Falcons, and so did they.

Some have pointed to durability, but Daniels missed only one game across five seasons.

Others may knock the usual traits that quarterbacks get dinged for - arm talent, leadership and accuracy. Those who played with and against him didn't see those issues.

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Instead, they saw a well-rounded quarterback consistently pick apart defenses with precision, sparked by the early mornings and late nights that ultimately made him a Heisman Trophy winner.

Now, Daniels will be an NFL team's next great hope under center - and it may just be the Falcons.

"I wouldn't say any doubts about him," Mississippi State defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy said. "He's a great player. He can do a lot of things - he can run, he can throw, he can read different coverages and things like that.

"So, I feel like he's a great quarterback, great player."