Can LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels make a Joe Burrow-like jump?

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But Kelly is a realist when he sits with ESPN in his office in June.

"Look, Alabama has been a model of consistency year in and year out. Georgia has been a model of consistency year in and year out," Kelly says. "We can't hang that moniker yet. We went from last to first -- that's not consistent. So what does that leave us? The ability to win and be the best team that day. That's it. So if you're measuring that, can we be the best team on that particular day and beat anybody? Absolutely. But can we be consistent? That's what we're going to try to prove."

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Daniels finished with 2,913 yards, 17 touchdowns and three interceptions. While he threw the most catchable ball in the country (83% catchable pass rate), he rarely took shots downfield, ranking 103rd in the rate of pass attempts 20-plus yards downfield (10.6%).

Kelly says we were watching a young QB grow up. All Daniels needs to do is, "Let it go."

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If Daniels -- a 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior -- wants to become a first-round pick in the NFL draft, Kelly says the first thing he needs to do is improve his pocket presence. That and making better anticipatory throws, letting the receiver run into space or throwing away from defenders.

While Daniels hasn't made "a ton" of those throws, Kelly says, "He started making them later in the season."

Jim Nagy, a former NFL scout who runs the Senior Bowl, agrees. He was at LSU's 2022 season-opener against Florida State and could see just how "discombobulated" the offense was and how uncomfortable Daniels was running it. Nagy says Daniels appeared "frenetic" at times.

But Nagy was there again in-person for the win over Ole Miss and followed along through the rest of the season, and what he saw led him to call Daniels the most improved player in the country. He wasn't perfect, Nagy says, but he stuck with his reads longer and fit the ball into tighter windows.

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Nagy also says Daniels is more athletic than he gets credit for. He was at the Manning Passing Academy and says there's "no doubt" Daniels has an NFL-caliber arm.

"I'll start by saying this: we have Jayden at the same spot on the board right now that we had Joe going into his senior year," Nagy says. "It's essentially like a fringe Day 2-3 grade, kind of a fringe top-100 grade. And, man, that was a magical year for Joe. Joe's a pretty special guy when it comes to how he's wired as a competitor and leader. But he's in the same spot. And very similar -- they didn't ask too much of Jayden last year, just like they didn't ask a lot of Joe his first year there.

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And where exactly does he think he can get better?

"The deep ball," he says. "Just letting it go and giving my guys a chance to go out there and make a play. I felt that probably the biggest leap that I took as a quarterback this offseason is building that timing with those guys and knowing how they run routes and giving them opportunities to go make plays downfield, which I know they can do at a high level."

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