Brian Kelly on Jayden Daniels’ future: ‘You’ve got to be able to flip the switch’

LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels is one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft and is expected to be a top-three pick. However, to find success at the NFL level, his college coach Brian Kelly knows he needs to be able to flip a switch.

It was at the LSU Pro Day when Kelly met with the media and explained the challenges of transitioning from college to the NFL.

“I think the NFL is all about making that next step, that transition,” Brian Kelly said. “There’s no longer the other piece — the academics — it’s strictly a full-time job. You’ve got to be able to flip the switch now and commit yourself, which he has done here.”

In 2023, Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy. He did so on the back of a massive season, where he had 3,812 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns. He also had 1,134 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. 

“He’s treated himself like a pro in the sense of his commitment. But now you got to be able to switch yourself to 100 percent focused on a job. Sometimes that’s a bit of a transition. You’re on your own now and it’s 100 percent focused on a job. In terms of athletic ability and in terms of his ability to master the skill set of playing quarterback, I think we saw today, he’s 210 pounds, he’s put on weight,” Kelly said.

“I think he’s gonna do just fine when it comes to the skillset and the athleticism. It’s just making that natural transition into an NFL locker room.”

Brian Kelly opens up about Jayden Daniels ability to protect himself on field

One concern about Jayden Daniels is his ability to protect himself as a runner, but Brian Kelly believes he will be able to do that and slide.

“It’s interesting. There’s very few questions about ‘he can’t do this,’ or ‘he can’t do that.’ I think it’s more ‘will he slide? Will he get down?’ I think that’s — and what I said to them is, look you have a guy who is incredibly tough and competitive, no one more so than the guy that I saw get hit in the Alabama game and come back the next week out of the concussion protocol and set an NCAA record the next week. That to me speaks to his toughness. And he’s a smart guy. He’s figured this thing out,” Kelly said.

“So, that’s been really the biggest question. It hasn’t been about ‘Can he pick up the safety reads? Can he pick up blitz protections?’ They see that on film. It’s, ‘Coach, will he protect himself?’ And I’m sure he will.”