Las Vegas Raiders have 'eye on' Jayden Daniels ahead of NFL Scouting Combine

There’s a strong feeling the Las Vegas Raiders could be enticed to trade up for Jayden Daniels, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The former LSU quarterback is pretty familiar with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce. The latter was an assistant at Arizona State while Daniels was there, prior to his transfer to LSU.

Needing a quarterback, Fowler detailed how the Raiders might finally move all the way up to nab the Heisman Trophy winner.

“Well the QBs, they’re getting ready to throw in Indianapolis and the Raiders will be watching closely and there’s a feeling that Jayden Daniels, the LSU Heisman Trophy winner, has the eye of Raiders coach Antonio Pierce,” Fowler said on SportsCenter Sunday morning. “Because they have a strong connection from their Arizona State days and Pierce was an assistant there. 

“But we’ll see if they can move up but they’re picking 13th, that’d be a huge jump to try to get into the top three. You know, talking to people around the league they make note that the Raiders tried to get up even as high as No. 1 last year trying to get CJ Stroud or Bryce Young. Couldn’t do it … Maybe this is the year they finally make the jump.”

Daniels would be quite the get for Las Vegas. Pierce knows him well and what the QB can do on the field as a dual threat.

If you want to build the new Raiders around a franchise quarterback, Daniels could be the one. Las Vegas tried the Jimmy Garoppolo experiment, but after injuries, pivoted to Aidan O’Connell, a former Purdue signal caller.

This past season, Daniels had the best year of his career en route to the Heisman. He finished with 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns, four interceptions, a 72.2% completion percentage, 1,134 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

Daniels finished his college career with ASU and LSU with 12,750 yards, 89 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, a 66.3% completion percentage, 3,307 rushing yards and 34 rushing touchdowns.

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.