Jayden Daniels will leave fans at the NFL Combine wanting more out of LSU’s star quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner. However, he’s making the wise call for his NFL Draft stock.

Earlier in the week, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that Daniels will be included in a group of QBs who will not throw at the combine. He will conduct interviews and meetings with teams but will not work out, joining Caleb Williams and Drake Maye as players opting to wait until their Pro Days to throw for NFL teams.

A fellow top prospect — wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — is reportedly not attending the combine at all. According to those reports, Harrison remains in Columbus training for his rookie season as opposed to training for testing.

Daniels’ decision makes sense

The opportunity for Daniels to put his arm on display in Indianapolis would be fun, but it’s an unnecessary endeavor. In fact, it’s an activity that would only present more risks than opportunities for the star quarterback.

Already, Daniels has impressed some analysts as the top offensive playmaker at QB behind Caleb Williams. ESPN’s Louis Riddick recently said he sees a significant gap between Daniels and Drake Maye purely based on talent. Riddick did say he wants more information on Daniels “the person, the student, the teammate,” and that’s an opportunity Daniels will take advantage of by meeting with teams at the combine.

NFL.com draft expert Daniel Jeremiah is also bullish on Daniels, though he has LSU’s Heisman winner No. 6 on his big board of top 50 draft prospects. Three of the players ahead of Daniels are wide receivers, and the two QBs ahead of Daniels are Caleb Williams (No. 1 overall) and Drake Maye (No. 5). The latest odds for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft can be tracked using SDS’s Louisiana sports betting apps.

Looking at Daniels’ draft stock through that lens, a simple question arises. Can Daniels boost his stock further than what it already is on the field in Indianapolis?

The brief answer is no. Neither Daniels nor Maye will catch up with Williams’ hype, and the two are splitting hairs between their rankings on Jeremiah’s list.

Any questions a team has between the two can likely be answered via the tape, and there’s not going to be a lot of clarity between the two regardless of what happens on the field in Indy.

As for the rest of the testing, that is unlikely to benefit Daniels as well. He’s already regarded as the top running QB in the draft after 1,134 rushing yards and 8.4 yards per carry during the 2023 season. And if anyone needs a reminder, those numbers came against SEC defenses, including 234 rushing yards against Florida.

A 40-yard dash time would do little to affirm what Daniels can do with his legs after this past season and rushing for over 3,300 yards throughout his career. And there is still the Pro Day aspect where Daniels can answer any questions teams might still have.

Daniels’ decision to not throw takes a little of the intrigue out of the NFL Combine’s group of QBs, but it’s the decision that makes the most sense after his Heisman Trophy campaign in 2023.