NFL insiders' opinions on JD's NFL future

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I’ve said it a few different places, and I’ll say it here now—don’t sleep on Jayden Daniels. LSU’s Heisman winner, a veteran of 55 college starts at two schools, was probably considered a Day 3 pick three months ago. Now, I don’t know whether I’d call him a lock to go in the top 10, but I certainly wouldn’t bet against him landing in that range, or higher.

And that was only cemented Sunday morning, when I texted a handful of high-level scouts to get their take on the 23-year-old veteran of five college seasons.

The premise was one I got from one of the ace producers over at NBC Sports Boston. He wanted to know, for our pregame show, whether Daniels had a chance, in the eyes of NFL teams, to catch North Carolina’s Drake Maye as the second quarterback in the draft class of 2024. For a while now the presumption has been that USC’s Caleb Williams would be the first pick in the draft, and Maye would go second. Has Daniels shaken that up?

Depends who you ask.

“It might be going in the opposite direction,” one AFC exec texted me. “Jayden is pulling away from Drake for me. … He makes every throw, his deep accuracy is rare, he’s explosive as a runner but is a pocket passer. It’s like [Deshaun Watson].”

Another AFC exec agreed that there’s “not much“ separation between the two, though they’re “different types of players.” And an NFC exec agreed that the gap is “not big anymore. Jayden’s going to have to go to a team that will build around his skill set, like [Anthony] Richardson with the Colts. But he’s gonna go early.”

One AFC scout dissented from that sentiment, texting, “I think Drake has a Pro Bowl ceiling. His floor is Dak [Prescott, before this MVP month] and his ceiling is [Justin] Herbert. I had Jayden as a quality backup with the ceiling of a system starter, more in-line with the Jimmy [Garoppolo] or Kirk Cousins range. … I like him, his athleticism adds value. I just didn’t love him as a passer.”

Of course, we’ll all know more a few months from now, after these teams get to dig in some more and really get to learn about these kids. But already, the quarterback class looks like it’s strong at the top, has some depth, and should be a really fun one for all of us to dig into.

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