Tell the Truth Monday: Jayden Daniels is the best player in the country, and Heisman worthy
By Les East
Published:
It’s Tell the Truth Monday, so let’s start with this truth: I was wrong.
I gave the last rites to Jayden Daniels’ Heisman candidacy after LSU lost to Alabama 2 games ago.
That premature reaction had nothing to do with Daniels’ worthiness as a candidate. He has been the best player in the country.
It was based on the truth that Daniels’ team had lost for the 3rd time in 9 games to that point. The Tigers had fallen out of the SEC West race, and the team — more so than Daniels himself — had come up short against the 3 best teams on the schedule.
The Heisman Trophy usually goes to someone on a national championship contender, but LSU ceased to be that as a practical matter on the last day of September — and officially on the first Saturday in November.
But another truth is that Heisman voting is based on season-long performance, and Daniels still had 3 opportunities to add to his resume at that point.
Then Daniels went out and had the single-best performance of anyone anywhere in the country this season in a 52-35 victory against Florida on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
If his candidacy was on life support after Bama, it was out of the ICU and ready for discharge after Florida.
Daniels passed for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns for an SEC-record 606 yards of total offense.
But just as a Heisman candidacy isn’t necessarily ended by 1 game, nor is the trophy necessarily won in 1 game – even one as historic as the one Saturday night.
Daniels’ record performance eclipsed other Heisman-caliber performances of his that came against SEC opposition: 513 yards, 5 touchdowns; 425 yards, 4 touchdowns; 418 yards, 3 touchdowns; 389 yards, 4 touchdowns; 382 yards, 3 touchdowns; 298 yards, 5 touchdowns.
Besides the 2 possessions he missed against Alabama after sustaining a concussion in the 4th quarter, Daniels has missed the equivalent of a full game because he was pulled at halftime of dominant victories against outmanned opponents in Grambling and Army.
He had 583 yards and 8 touchdowns in the 4 quarters he did play.
So his cumulative stats could have been even gaudier than they already are. And he still has home games against Georgia State and Texas A&M to make them gaudier yet.
Right now, he’s averaging 316.4 passing yards per game, with an FBS-best 30 TDs and only 4 picks. He’s No. 7 in the country in completion percentage (71.4) and No. 1 in QB rating (202.12, ahead of Michigan’s JJ McCarthy at 187.25 and Oregon’s Bo Nix at 184.66). On the ground, he’s averaging 91.8 yards per game on 8.05 per carry (No. 3 in FBS), with 8 TDs. A rare 3,000-1,000 season is just 82 rushing yards away.
But picking a Heisman Trophy winner is a tricky thing. Individual statistics are a good starting point, which is why candidates are almost exclusively individuals who play positions where performance is easily quantifiable – quarterback, running back and occasionally wide receiver.
Team success is also a valuable gauge, but that can unfairly punish candidates for teammates’ shortcomings, or unfairly boost candidacies because of teammates’ excellence.
Additionally, performance against the best competition when the stakes are highest can help reveal the most worthy candidate.
Daniels has directed the most productive offense in the country through 10 games. He was even better than his norm against the Gators. In fact he was better than pretty much any norm anyone cares to consider.
So it’s virtually impossible to believe that Daniels won’t be invited to New York as a Heisman finalist.
There are 2 more weeks in the regular season, and some candidates might get an extra audition in a conference championship game.
After the game, LSU coach Brian Kelly said Daniels’ performance – the first in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history in which 1 player had 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in the same game – “solidified” these truths: “He’s the best quarterback in the country. He’s the best playmaker in the country. He’s the best player.”
Kelly said that if Daniels didn’t win the Heisman on Saturday, “he’s got to be the leading candidate.” If not, Kelly continued, “then maybe the Heisman is not really for the best player. Maybe it’s for the most popular player.”
And that’s the point.
As of this Tell the Truth Monday, Daniels is the best player in the country. Perhaps that will change when these final precincts report.
But ultimately Daniels won’t need any particular award to validate what he continues to do on the field.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
