Brian Kelly: 'Jayden Daniels is the best player in college football'

Brian Kelly kept it simple and called LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels the best player in college football. In a win over Georgia State, Daniels was responsible for eight touchdowns.

In the 56-14 win, Daniels was immaculate. He finished with 413 yards passing, six touchdown passes, 96 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Kelly couldn’t hold back his praise.

“I think when I have the opportunity to talk about my players, I’m going to do it,” Kelly said. “And I think I mentioned that and I think in this case, I’m going to use my opportunities to talk about my player and I think he’s the best player in college football in every opportunity that I get. I’m going to make sure that people understand that his efficiency, the way he takes over the game, I mean, if you’re on the other side, how do you defend him?” 

Kelly broke down several instances against Georgia State where Daniels was unstoppable.

“They tried to blitz, that didn’t work,” Kelly said. “They dropped eight in the fourth quarter. They just said they were just gonna drop eight and that didn’t work. I’ve seen virtually everything this year, from trap coverages, to you know, every kind of configuration and it just doesn’t work. So I’m going to talk about him as much as I can.”

This season, Daniels is putting up career numbers with, presumably, two games to go in his college career. He has 3,577 yards, 36 touchdowns, four interceptions, a 72.6% completion percentage, 1,014 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

“I think right now, the way he’s playing, and the decisiveness and the way he’s taking over games, he’s the best player,” Kelly said. “And I would say that because the numbers are reaching, you know, levels that are, for example, he tied Joe Burrow’s record. Many people were kind of saying, would eight touchdowns ever be touched? I mean, he tied that, you know, and I think that that’s the level of play. So yeah, I would say he’s the best.”

As a member of the Class of 2019, Daniels was a four-star recruit out of San Bernardino (Calif.) Cajon, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 7 overall prospect in the state, the No. 3 quarterback in the class and the No. 50 overall prospect in the class.