Jayden Daniels named 2023 Davey O'Brien Award winner

There was plenty of impressive quarterback play this year, which made the voting for the Davey O’Brien Award even tougher. Three players who are heading to the Heisman Trophy ceremony — LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix — were up for the award, presenting quite the decision.

Ultimately, Daniels came away with the honor during Friday’s awards show on ESPN.

Daniels put up by far the best numbers of the quarterbacks up for the Davey O’Brien Award this year. He threw for 3,812 yards, rushed for 1,134 and had 50 total touchdowns — 40 passing and 10 rushing. That made him the first quarterback to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 since Jalen Hurts did so.

By winning the O’Brien Award Friday night, Daniels became the first LSU quarterback to do so since Joe Burrow in 2019. Of course, Burrow also won the Heisman that season before going No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

Daniels has been on quite the ride over his college career, which started at Arizona State. However, he keeps things in perspective.

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Daniels said after the announcement. “Everything I’ve been through — the good and the bad, the highs and the lows. You’ve got to fight through adversity as a quarterback and as a human being. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Daniels put up big numbers in his first year at LSU, but took a big leap forward in Year 2. He knew what his goals were, and he did everything he could to make that jump.

“I always believed in myself. And everything you could do, you have to put your mind into it, you have to put in the work,” Daniels said. “And for me, I was just going out here from Arizona State and then transitioning to LSU in the 2022 season and going in this past offseason, I wanted to elevate my game. I want to be the best version of me because I knew there was much more out there on the table. I just put in the work, the early mornings, the late nights.”

Jayden Daniels’ competition was fierce for the O’Brien Award. Nix led the nation with a 77.2% completion percentage as he threw for 4,145 yards and 40 passing touchdowns. He also added 228 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Penix, meanwhile, led the nation in passing yards with 4,218 while adding 33 touchdowns. He was the biggest key to Washington’s high-powered offense as the Huskies went a perfect 13-0 to return to the College Football Playoff. Two of those victories came over Nix and Oregon, including the Pac-12 Championship.