It’s not just the system, it’s not just his ability to run the football. Kansas has a legit quarterback.
And his name is Jalon Daniels.
Daniels, a 6-foot, 215-pound junior, continued his red-hot start for head coach Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks on Saturday: 19-of-23 for 324 yards and four touchdowns (no interceptions), to go along with 83 rushing yards (and another score) in a 35-27 win over Duke.
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Kansas is 4-0 for the first time since 2009, and Daniels, who started the final three games of 2021 for Leipold before winning the job this year, is now 66-of-93 (71 percent) for 890 yards, 11 touchdowns and one pick. He’s rushed 38 times for 320 yards and four scores.
And although Leipold’s run-heavy offense — which revolves around plenty of QB run reads — certainly puts Daniels in plenty of advantageous situations, the junior from Southern California has a very interesting skill set that could wind up really taking off in Lawrence. Daniels is a twitchy athlete who doesn’t need much space in the pocket to throw with velocity. He can flip his hips and drive the ball in a blink, be it out wide on a bubble screen or over the middle in the face of pressure. Daniels is delivering when his number is called — from the pocket, on the run, wherever.
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