Pressing Questions: Is Jayden Daniels the Heisman frontrunner, what's wrong with Wisconsin, Eli Drinkwitz a Texas A&M candidate?

In the latest mailbag, a deep dive on why LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels should be the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. Plus, what to make of Luke Fickell and the Year 1 mess at Wisconsin and is Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz at potential candidate at Texas A&M?

As always, you can submit a question via my internet mailbox at [email protected] or send a DM/Tweet reply @JesseReSimonton.

This week’s questions…

Why is Jayden Daniels getting so much Heisman love? LSU has 3 losses. He scored 7 points in the second half against the only two tough opponents that LSU played all year. He’s feasting on bad defenses. — Nick

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels did sit atop all five of On3 National Team’s Heisman Trophy Hot Board this week, yours truly included — and with good reason. 

He’s been the most outstanding player in the sport in 2023. 

Were folks saying the same thing about Caleb Williams roasting poor Pac-12 defenses last season? Daniels is not out here stat-padding. Thanks to the Tigers’ porous defense, LSU needs every one of Daniels’ transcendent plays just to win. 

Against Florida, Jayden Daniels became the first FBS quarterback to throw for 350 yards and run for 200 yards in the same game. Daniels leads the nation in total yards (4082), out-gaining Michael Penix Jr. by nearly 600 yards. He has 38 total touchdowns, which is second to only Caleb Williams. 

Daniels leads the nation in passing scores (30), QB rating and yards per attempt. He has 16 runs over 20 yards — no other player in the SEC (running back or QB) has even 10 such carries.  

LSU’s quarterback is stuffing the stat sheet with numbers that would be hard to replicate on Freshman Mode in next year’s new EA Sports’ NCAA Football. 

Daniels did struggle in the second half against Florida State, but that was the season-opener. We’ve seen nine other games since then, and he’s been the best player in the sport.  

Against Alabama, Daniels led the tying touchdown drive on LSU’s first series out of halftime. He really only played in the third quarter against the Tide before getting knocked out, and his interception was a ball that went off his receiver’s hands. 

LSU’s three losses could totally be held against Daniels by Heisman voters come season’s end, especially if Penix and Bo Nix continue to duel out West. 

But Tim Tebow, Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III and Lamar Jackson all won the Heisman on three-loss teams, so there’s no reason why Daniels can’t, too.

What in the world is going on at Wisconsin? I thought Luke Fickell would be a home run hire but the Badgers are awful this year. Was he wrong to leave Cincinnati? — James

I too am very confused as to what’s transpiring in Madison this fall. I wasn’t someone who thought the Badgers would suddenly compete for the Big Ten title in Year 1, but I certainly didn’t think they’d be in a fight just to make a bowl game. 

Luke Fickell was considered a slam dunk hire in the offseason, and while it’s far too early to say he won’t work out at Wisconsin, the initial returns have been ugly/ 

For those who haven’t paid attention, Wisconsin has lost three straight games — including at Indiana and at home against Northwestern in consecutive weeks. The Badgers have scored over 14 points just once in their last five games, and they needed a touchdown inside the final 10 seconds against the Wildcats just to avoid a second game this season without reaching the end zone. 

Injuries have definitely played a factor in the Badgers’ recent woes. With Chaz Mellusi (broken leg) and Braelon Allen (ankle) both sidelined, they’re down to their third- and fourth-string tailbacks. Starting quarterback Tanner Mordecai was struggling but he’s also out with a broken hand. Their tight end room has been decimated, and their projected starting center hasn’t played a snap all season. 

Still, the team lacks any identity offensively. They haven’t been able to blend the old with the new, and Phil Longo has come under fire for his inability to marry his ‘Dairy Raid’ scheme with the program’s current personnel. 

Wisconsin moved on from Paul Chryst because of the team’s offensive limitations, and yet, the Badgers are averaging their fewest points per game (just 22.1) in nearly 20 years. The team’s defensive metrics remain solid, but that’s largely a byproduct of playing god-awful offenses in the Big Ten West. 

After Saturday’s “embarrassing” loss, Fickell said, “I hope it doesn’t get any lower than this.”

But when you can’t score, it might. The Badgers host Nebraska on Saturday and then play at Minnesota in the season finale. Both will be coin-flip rivalry games they could win — or lose. 

Missing a bowl game would be a colossal failure for Fickell in Year 1. He was hired to elevate the program to compete for championships — his AD Chris McIntosh has said as much publicly many times — and while that wasn’t the expectation for 2023, neither was a losing season. 

I still believe in Fickell’s vision for the program. Few other coaches could’ve delivered the results he produced with the Bearcats. But it does feel like we’re at a very early (and unexpected) inflection point in his tenure in the next two weeks.

Missouri is 8-2 and headed for a New Year’s Six Bowl game. Should Eli Drinkwitz be a candidate at Texas A&M? — Zach

He might well be. For now, I have no idea. I’ve seen as many as a dozen Power 5 head coaches on various Texas A&M hot boards.

I doubt Eli Drinkwitz is where the Aggies will turn, but it speaks volumes that he’d even been tangentially linked to such an opening considering he was on a simmering hot seat at Mizzou just last season. 

Drinkwitz has totally changed the narrative around him and his program this year, exacting revenge on both Kansas State and Tennessee and proving he can win with top talents like Luther Burden and Theo Wease. He’s a dogged recruiter, signing some of Missouri’s top classes in school history the last few cycles, and he’s a strong assistant evaluator, too, hiring great coordinators like Kirby Moore and Blake Baker. 

Compared to other potential candidates at Texas A&M, Drinkwitz obviously has SEC experience and would come much cheaper than most, as he’s among the lowest-paid coaches in the SEC at around $6 million. 

Drinkwitz also has a little ‘Head Ball Coach’ in him, which could play well at TAUM. He’s not afraid to poke the bear and show some personality like he did Saturday after the Tigers waxed the Vols. He interrupted his postgame interview to declare Missouri “Tennessee State Champs” after beating UT, Vandy, Memphis and MTSU all in the same season.  

"Tennessee state champs…our defense kicked their ass tonight." – Eli Drinkwitz after Missouri's 36-7 dismantling of Tennessee.pic.twitter.com/chBZynGyvV

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 12, 2023

Ultimately, I don’t see Drinkwitz at Texas A&M, which should please Missouri fans. The Tigers are No. 3 team in the SEC this season and their program looks to be on an upward trajectory.