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Jayden Daniels names the QBs who inspired him to play the position
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Jayden Daniels is having a sensational 2023 season, putting up eye-popping numbers running and throwing the football. Quarterback, however, wasn’t always the plan for Daniels.
The LSU superstar recently visited with a dual-threat QB who won the Heisman Trophy. On his podcast, Robert Griffin III brought up reading that Daniels’ father, Jay, a former cornerback at Washington and Iowa State, wanted his son to also be a defensive back.
“That is 100% true,” Daniels confirmed. “He kinda knew at some point I’d hit a growth spurt, I’d be tall. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and play DB.”
Daniels was drawn to the quarterback position watching a couple of dual-threat quarterbacks growing up.
“Me, I’m watching Michael Vick, and I’m watching Donovan McNabb, and all those guys, and I’m like, ‘I wanna be like them,'” Daniels said on the RG3 and The Ones podcast.
“Everybody grew up watching Mike Vick. From there, I just wanted to have the ball in my hand and play quarterback.”
Daniels clearly made the right call following his heart. Heading into Saturday’s game, Daniels is good for a 1st down per snap, averaging 10.75 yards per play. He has thrown for 3,577 yards and 36 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,014 yards and 10 scores.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
