Jayden Daniels has seen his draft stock rise rapidly over the past several months, but there is one aspect of the former LSU star’s game that may need tweaking if he wants to enjoy a successful NFL career.
Simply put, Daniels needs to learn how to slide. Some videos have circulated on social media recently that show situations where the quarterback could have easily avoided hits from defenders but instead welcomed the contact. You can see several examples below:
Only thing that scares me about drafting Jayden Daniels. He needs to learn how to protect himself. He will not last taking these types of hits in the NFL. This can easily be corrected. #Raiders #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/G1TynEsaHF
— Optimistic Raider (@planetraider) January 21, 2024
One post that went viral on X hilariously described Daniels as looking like a Looney Tunes character after he was hit hard while fighting for extra yards on a play against Ole Miss this past season.
Jayden Daniels biggest flaw is being prone to looking like a Looney Tunes character every time he gets hit https://t.co/AEHSyKp4G9
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) January 23, 2024
There are a number of ways NFL quarterbacks work to protect their bodies. The most obvious is sliding before they are hit. But there are also certain ways to contort your body and absorb contact when it does come. We saw Tua Tagovailoa go to great lengths last offseason just to learn how to fall properly so he would stop getting injured so much.
Daniels has a tendency to try to run through defenders and even stand himself upright before taking a big hit. That is a recipe for disaster in the NFL.
A recent report indicated that Daniels could come off the board in the NFL Draft a lot sooner than many anticipated. NFL teams are probably confident they can get him to play smarter.
