Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels is enduring his sixth year at quarterback for the Jayhawks. While there isn’t much, if any, positives to take from the Les Miles era that saw the Jayhawks compile just three wins in 21 games, it was giving Daniels the keys at such a young age, and since then, Daniels has become a cult hero, if not a legend in among Kansas supporters.
The evidence for one thing is clear this season: if Lance Leipold wants his team to succeed, it has to be at the hands of the experienced Daniels, who this season has already compiled nine touchdowns and two interceptions, with 679 yards. Albeit with two of the games in which Daniels excelled being much weaker than the typical Big 12 competition, which Daniels soon faces.
During Monday’s obligatory press conference, the fifth-year head coach spoke on Daniels’ development shown when the Jayhawks took on Missouri in what was a 42-31 Border Showdown loss to the Tigers, which may have seen Daniels fall below the mark.
“You know, in the Missouri game, he tried to do a little bit too much again, but all in all, I think he's continued to play confidently within himself, and not trying to put everything on his shoulders.”
Leipold continued, “I thought maybe there was a time or two in the [Missouri] game we're looking to get something going, and face it, he's done that in his career in creating a lot of plays for us here, and in that. So, that's a hard one to totally reel in. But like I continue to say, his maturity and understanding, and he's been that way all the way through, he doesn't show frustration and panic in what he's doing, and again, this team's gonna need that throughout conference play.”
Against the SEC side, Daniels totaled 223 yards on 18/30 passing to go with two touchdowns and one interception, which by no means is a dreadful stat line, but as Leipold pointed out, Daniels must teeter the line between putting it all on his shoulders and still being the playmaker he is.
The next chance to see Daniels in action is when Kansas kicks off Big 12 play against the West Virginia Mountaineers this Saturday at 5 PM CT