Jayden Daniels projected as 2nd QB selected in 2024 Draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Jayden Daniels took the college football world by storm in 2023, rolling to an incredible season for LSU as the Heisman Trophy winner. Now, he’s in line to become one of the first quarterbacks taken in the 2024 NFL Draft.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. released his first mock draft of the cycle Tuesday morning, and he made an appearance on “Get Up” to discuss certain aspects. One of the eyebrow-raising portions of Kiper’s mock included Daniels going No. 2 overall with UNC’s Drake Maye coming in at No. 3.
For much of the college season, Maye has been widely regarded as the second-best QB available behind USC’s Caleb Williams. However, Kiper says Daniels has already received a comparison to Randall Cunningham.
“(Daniels) was remarkable and I went to Herm Edwards. Herm compares him to Randall Cunningham. I know Lamar Jackson comps are going to be out there, but Herm says he’s Randall Cunningham,” revealed Kiper. “I’ll take that.”
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Cunningham finished second in MVP voting 3 times during his longtime career that included nearly 30,000 passing yards and over 4,900 rushing yards. That dual-threat ability is present in Daniels, and his ability to stretch defenses currently trumps what Maye did in 2023.
“I think the dual-threat ability with what he did this year and last. The great thing about Jayden is he’s aggressive with his legs, he’s aggressive with his arm, but he doesn’t turn the ball over. To strike that balance is really rare and really impressive to me,” Kiper explained. “I think when you look at Jayden Daniels and the way he can attack a defense, the fear factor player he is. Defensive coordinators don’t want to scheme to try and handle this guy, and Drake Maye didn’t have that super unbelievable season that he needed to have.”
Kiper pointed to some games where Maye struggled and missed some easy throws at times. Overall, Kiper still likes what Maye brings to the table but gives the current edge to Daniels entering the draft process.
“He had some struggles against Virginia, NC State, a couple games where he was throwing some picks, not impressively accurate with some throws that you need to be able to make… You can excuse away some things,” admitted Kiper. “Bottom line is I’m not going to hate on Drake Maye because I really like Drake Maye but you talk about the second overall pick right now, I think Jayden Daniels has the edge going into the draft process.”
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
