Jayden Daniels addresses running his own Pro Day workouts, how he's grown as a leader

Jayden Daniels won the 2023 Heisman trophy and has soared up NFL Draft boards this spring, in large part due to his play, but also thanks to his reputation as a great leader at the college level.

There was evidence of Daniels’ ability as a leader even in his pro day. The LSU quarterback basically ran the show on his own Wednesday, directing receivers and the general flow of his workouts without the help of a coach, which Louis Riddick noted as rare when interviewing Daniels after his performance.

“I mean, that’s something I’ve been doing ever since I got to LSU, so it’s nothing that changed,” said Daniels of leading the pro day alongside his teammates.

“For me, it’s like the same guys I came in with, we grew up together, we all have a respect level for each other. So me and my quarterback coach, Taylor Kelley, came with the script, he was like ’it’s your script, it’s your keys to go do it.”

To no surprise, Daniels crushed it and looked the part of a confident QB1, especially with him calling out the shots throughout the workout.

Daniels is no stranger to leadership roles, and was thrusted into that role even as a true freshman at Arizona State. He was the starting quarterback on opening day of his first year, leading the Sun Devils to a 3-0 start which included a road win at Michigan State. That year ended with an 8-5 record and Daniels starting 12/13 regular season games with an 8-4 record of his own.

Pretty impressive stuff for a true freshman QB at the power conference level, which Daniels believes is a positive mark on his resume, he told Louis Riddick during an interview at LSU’s pro day.

“Ever since I came in, I was 18 years old at Arizona State leading the locker room. You know, I had guys older than me following me,” he commented of his first year.

Daniels would go on to leave for LSU after posting an 18-11 overall record for an ASU program that posted consecutive 3-9 seasons in the two years following Daniels’ departure.

According to the former Tiger star himself, he only grew as a leader once transferring and growing a bit older. “I feel like I took another step with my leadership,” Daniels commented, explaining the process of having to earn that trust again.

“Coming here, brand new start in ’21, having to regain the locker room, re-learn the locker room, having everybody get my respect and my trust, and vice versa, so it’s something I’ve been dealing with since I was young.”

A guy who’s been leading football teams for so long clearly has a lot of insight into how to lead. When asked by Riddick, here was his diagnosis of what a great leader looks like in the locker room:

“A hard-worker who’s got the respect and the trust of his teammates. Can’t be a leader if your team doesn’t respect and trust you. At the end of the day, you have to show that you work hard and care about the game of football, that you care about everybody in the locker room, and they’ll follow you.“