Jayden Daniels' personal QB coach compares LSU's Heisman Trophy winner to this NFL star. Here's why
BATON ROUGE — LSU football quarterback Jayden Daniels will head to the NFL with a unique playing style.
The Heisman Trophy winner threw the ball as well as any quarterback in college football this season. But what set him apart was his rushing skills. He led the nation in rushing yards among FBS quarterbacks and became the second player in SEC history to rush for over 1,000 yards while also throwing for more than 3,500 in a season.
His speed and explosiveness as a runner combined with his skills as a passer reminds his personal quarterback coach, Taylor Kelly, of Lamar Jackson when he was coming out of Louisville.
"I would say he's comparable to like Lamar. As far as being able to be explosive with his athleticism," Kelly said. "I would say he's further along in his development right now at throwing the football than what probably Lamar was when he was coming out."
Jackson also won the Heisman Trophy before later becoming the No. 32 overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He went on to win the 2019 AP MVP Award and has scored 146 total touchdowns during his NFL career.
Kelly has no doubts that Daniels will follow in the footsteps of Jackson and become a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
"There's no question that he's a first round quarterback" Kelly said. "And I saw that in the summer, and a lot of people, they weren't talking about him. They didn't have him in any mock drafts or any of that stuff and were probably talking about him being a late, late round pick.
"And so now he's shown the country and everybody what he's capable of doing. And he's now earned every bit of being able to be talked about (as) a first round pick."
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Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Jayden Daniels compared to Lamar Jackson by personal quarterback coach
