LSU football made the right decision to go with QB Jayden Daniels

LSU football’s quarterback competition was the talk of the town throughout the summer months. It was a three-horse race between Myles Brennan, Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier heading into Fall Camp, according to Head Coach Brian Kelly. It wasn’t until Brennan announced his retirement from football that the picture began to get a tad bit clearer. Still, Kelly refused to announce a starter until just minutes before the opening game against Florida State.

Daniels, the Arizona State transfer, was given the starting nod against the Seminoles. However, it wasn’t long until fans were crying out for Nussmeier. Contrary to popular belief, Daniels actually played extremely well against Florida State. Kelly’s decision to start the junior was justified once again after the conclusion of the Tigers’ 65-17 victory over Southern last Saturday.

LSU football made the right decision to go with quarterback Jayden Daniels

Daniels may have only played for a quarter and some change last weekend, but it’s safe to say he was the best player on the field in the entire contest. LSU’s QB1 opened the scoring up and set an early tone for the game with his 18-yard run. Over the next 15 minutes, he’d go on to throw three touchdowns to three different receivers.

Daniels was taken out of the game after helping lead the Tigers take a 44-0 lead. He was phenomenal on the night as he played with more maturity and poise than the week before.

LSU’s offensive line and receivers have had their fair share of early season issues, but Daniels has remained calm through it all. He’s made the occasional errant pass, that just comes with the territory though. Overall, the junior has done extremely well given he’s playing alongside a team still trying to figure it out, in a new system and in a completely different environment.

Daniels has a 78.3% completion percentage (36-of-46) with 478 all-purpose yards, six total touchdowns and zero turnovers through two games. In fact, advanced statistics go as far as to suggest Daniels has been one of the best quarterbacks in the nation this season:

Meanwhile, the quarterback who proved to be Daniels’ toughest competitor throughout Fall Camp, Nussmeier, struggled during three quarters against the Jaguars last weekend. The redshirt freshman was able to show off his cannon of an arm on numerous occasions, but he simply didn’t look up to the task overall. 10 of his passes fell incomplete or were off the mark, he failed to find the back of the end zone and he turned the ball over twice. This included one of the most forced interceptions fans will ever see, which Southern ran back for its first touchdown of the night.

Overall, there’s no denying that LSU has three solid quarterbacks on campus in Daniels, Nussmeier and Walker Howard. As far as the starting job is concerned though, there can be no more questioning whether or not Kelly and his staff made the correct decision. Daniels is one of the SEC’s best quarterbacks, it’s time for the Tigers’ faithful to back him as such.