Jayden Daniels Brings Talent and Balance to LSU Quarterback Depth Chart
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At one point last December, it was really unclear if LSU would have much, if any, depth at quarterback for 2022. The times were dire with transfers, injuries, and recruiting uncertainty. Moving forward just three months, it appears that the Tigers are now surging at the quarterback position.
First, the arrival of Arizona State signal caller Jayden Daniels. The rising senior has the arm talent, the shake-and-bake of a wide receiver, and the experience to help bolster LSU’s 2022 record. His arrival will come none too soon.
After a freshman campaign in 2019 in which Daniels threw for 2,943 yards, 17 touchdowns, and two interceptions, he was relegated to playing in four games due to COVID in 2020, and the wheels fell off the Arizona State program in 2021. He’s supposedly rejuvenated by the notion of playing for LSU, and that’s going to be a huge shot in the arm that allows LSU to balance it’s depth chart for this fall:
Projected 2022 Depth Chart
Jayden Daniels, SR
Myles Brennan, 5th-Year Senior
Garrett Nussmeier, Redshirt Freshman
Walker Howard, Freshman
The QB Depth Chart is Headed in the Right Direction
As noted above, it’s a “projected” depth chart. Nobody knows until a quarterback is announced as the starter. To that end, Daniels did not come to Baton Rouge to sit the bench. Brennan did not either. In short, it’s hard to see both players sticking around because there’s only a single player starting at quarterback.
Even if one of them does leave, there will still be two quarterbacks behind the starter that are being groomed to one day lead the Tigers in Death Valley. That’s a normal depth chart, mind you, despite what it looked like not that long ago.
It’s also hard to fathom considering that at one point there was no flat out guarantee that Brennan would be healthy and/or come back to be a Tiger. Then, there was the exodus of Max Johnson to Texas A&M. Will Nussmeier was already on campus and he appears to be set with learning the offense and competing for the starting role in 2023. Howard could have easily signed with several other programs including LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly’s former school, Notre Dame, but decided to stay home and play for the Tigers.
"I think this is a smart move by Brian Kelly," ESPN's Pete Thamel said on the Paul Finebaum show. "He wasn't looking for a quarterback in the portal but when it was known Jayden Daniels had interest he stepped back and said you know what, this is a guy who's gonna inject legitimate competition into this battle."
It appears that LSU hit an inside straight after so many possible disasters were averted. Daniels to Baton Rouge, Brennan is back healthy and ready to compete for the starting job, Nussmeier stuck around as expected, and Howard signing with the Tigers gives LSU a tremendous hand to play at quarterback. That now gives LSU a tremendous boost even beyond the 2022 season.
Looking Ahead
Nussmeier and Howard will be back to compete in 2023 even with Daniels and Brennan gone, and there should be another high school signal caller signed this December. That would give the Tigers three signal callers in 2023, and that’s fine. It’s possible that the Tigers could also sign two quarterbacks within the 2023 class, but that’s up in the air. LSU’s coaching staff can finalize that decision at a later date.
More importantly, LSU will not need to win another big transfer recruiting battle to have a quality quarterback for 2023. Two signal callers that already went through multiple spring practices will be on the depth chart with Nussmeier and Howard.
At that point, LSU can be pretty picky about 2024 quarterback recruiting. That will help provide the program with more stability moving forward, and it should quite frankly help the win-loss record along the way.
In today’s college football world, no team is winning a National Title without strong quarterback play, so Tigers fans should be rejoicing about all of this news.
It starts with Daniels. He’s the odds-on favorite to win the job. Bottom line, even if he’s beaten out by Brennan or even one of the young guns, LSU finally has some balance within its quarterback depth chart. That’s a piece of the puzzle to help the LSU Football program as it looks to return to former glory.
