The Boston Herald will be breaking down the top quarterbacks ahead of this month’s 2024 NFL Draft April 25-27. The Patriots hold the third overall pick in the draft, and barring a trade down or something unforeseen, are widely expected to select a QB in the first round.

Up first, 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and LSU QB Jayden Daniels.

To sum up Daniels’ best traits, he is a quarterback with elite athleticism who doesn’t put the ball in harm’s way and has a tendency to deliver his best throws for scores.

Daniels is a dual threat with his arm and his legs. He was among the most accurate quarterbacks in college football last season with the ability to drop a deep ball in a bucket to one of his NFL-caliber wide receivers in stride for a touchdown, and he regularly ran by SEC defenders for game-breaking plays with his legs.

But he’s not a perfect prospect. He’s 23 years old, has a slender 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame, and didn’t break out until wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. developed into first-round talents last season.

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There’s some debate on where Daniels will be selected in the first round. His head coach at LSU, Brian Kelly, implied he would be playing for the Commanders, who hold the No. 2 overall pick, while speaking at his team’s pro day. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said recently on his podcast that Kelly’s suggestion was his expectation, as well. But at the NFL Annual Meeting, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero said executives around the league believed Michigan’s JJ McCarthy would go second overall, which would leave Daniels and UNC’s Drake Maye available to the Patriots at No. 2. (The Bears are fully expected to select Caleb Williams with the first overall pick.)

After viewing all of Daniels’ throws and runs from the 2023 season, let’s dive deeper into Daniels’ potential as a player with the help of scouts around the NFL, who gave their own takes on the young QB.

At a glance

Daniels began his college career at Arizona State in 2019 before transferring to LSU in 2022. He started all 55 college games he played and completed 66.3% of his passes for 12,750 yards with 89 touchdowns and 20 interceptions over the course of five seasons. He also rushed for 3,955 yards on 271 carries with 34 touchdowns and 19 fumbles.

In 2023, Daniels completed 72.2% of his passes for 3,812 yards with 40 touchdowns and four interceptions, averaging 11.7 yards per attempt. He carried the ball 120 times for 1,250 yards with 10 touchdowns and three fumbles with 47 forced missed tackles. He scrambled 55 times for 721 yards and had 65 designed carries for 529 yards.

What the film says

Daniels’ biggest strengths as a passer are his accuracy and ball protection. It’s surprising to see him throw an errant ball, and it’s even more shocking to see him loft the ball into double- or triple-coverage. On 332 passing attempts, the defense only touched the ball on 30 occasions (22 pass breakups, four batted passes and four interceptions). PFF only charged him with seven turnover-worthy plays all season.

One of his interceptions was batted at the line of scrimmage, and on another, his receiver fell down.

There are times when Daniels looks Lamar Jackson-esque as a scrambler. He’s especially dangerous scrambling straight up the middle of the field, and his vision as a runner allows him to weave in and out of traffic to pick up bigger gains. His frame and devil-may-care fearlessness should cause some concern when defenders are bigger, stronger and faster, however.

Most of Daniels’ best throws connected for touchdowns. He showed a sixth sense for placing the ball only where his receiver could grab it in the corner of the end zone. He could also hit his wide receivers in stride on deep balls, allowing them room to keep running for a score.

Daniels was certainly helped by his receivers. Nabers and Thomas are both dangerous deep threats. Nabers is regarded as one of the best wide receivers in his class because he also possesses elite after-catch ability with a 6-feet, 200-pound frame.

What scouts say

Arm talent

Scouts and executives were mostly positive on Daniels’ arm strength. An NFC South scout told the Herald that he saw the LSU QB as having a “quick release with good touch and a catchable ball,” though his “pure arm strength is just adequate.” An AFC North scout noted Daniels has “good velocity and arm strength,” and an AFC East scout said he has a “fast-twitch arm.”

Accuracy

Scouts were also mostly high on Daniels’ accuracy. An AFC West executive saw an “accurate passer from inside and outside the pocket” in his study. The AFC East scout liked Daniels’ accuracy from the pocket but called his “off-schedule and off-platform accuracy” a weakness. The NFC South scout said Daniels had “very good accuracy down the field,” but the AFC North scout believed the 23-year-old’s accuracy is “still inconsistent” despite his consistent mechanics and base.

Pocket presence

The AFC East and NFC South scouts both agreed that Daniels was a calm presence in the pocket. The AFC North scout saw Daniels’ pocket feel as a “work in progress and keeps him from maximizing his strengths at times.”

Decision-making

No one questioned Daniels’ decision-making ability as a passer. The AFC North scout called him a “capable processor and decision-maker.” The AFC East scout also saw his decision-making as a strength. The NFC South scout said the QB prospect is a “good processor who’s comfortable scanning through his reads” who “keeps the ball out of harm’s way.”

Toughness

The AFC West executive liked Daniels’ physicality and called him mentally tough but a “quiet leader.” But he also noted his thin frame. The NFC South scout also called his “thin frame” a weakness. “He doesn’t always protect his body when scrambling,” he said. The AFC East scout believes Daniels’ “strength and bulk” is a weakness.

Playmaking

Scouts were effusive about Daniels’ playmaking ability as a runner. The AFC West exec called the first-round prospect “extremely elusive” and “very fast.” He’s a “dangerous runner with vision and speed,” according to the AFC North scout and a “true weapon with his legs,” according to the NFC South scout.

Passing vision

There are still some questions about Daniels’ vision as a passer, however. The AFC North scout sees a “variance anticipator and creator with his eyes and arm” as weaknesses. He “doesn’t anticipate windows,” according to the AFC East scout and “prefers to see things open a tick before delivering the ball,” according to the NFC South Scout.

What the stats say

We pulled accuracy percentage, average depth of target, big-time throw rate, turnover-worthy play rate and run grade from PFF and EPA per play (expected points added) from CollegeFootballData.com from the 16 top QBs of the 2024 NFL Draft class, then standardized and averaged them. Daniels was far and away the best in his class, even over Williams when combining those six metrics into one standardized total.

He ranked third in accuracy rate, fifth in average depth of target, first in big-time throw rate, second-lowest in turnover-worthy play rate, tops in run grade and first in EPA/play.

Maye finished second when combining those statistics. Michigan’s JJ McCarthy was third, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. was fourth, Williams was sixth, and Oregon’s Bo Nix was eighth.

Daniels ranked first in PFF’s deep passing grade this season, going 35-of-55 for 1,347 yards with 22 touchdowns and zero interceptions on targets of 20-plus yards. His 63.0 under pressure passing grade ranked 13th out of 123 qualified FBS quarterbacks and below Nix, McCarthy and Penix. His pressure-to-sack rate of 20.2% was 78th lowest but down from a 30.8% mark in 2022.

His clean-pocket passing grade ranked second only behind Williams. Daniels’ average 2.94-second time in the pocket did rank among the highest in college football. Of the 16 QBs pulled for our standardized study, Daniels ranked second-slowest only behind Williams. Daniels’ average time to throw was 2.49 seconds, which was the third-fastest among those 16 quarterbacks. His 3.86-second time to sack was fifth-slowest, and his 5.26-second time to scramble was sixth-slowest.

Verdict

There’s a lot to like about Daniels’ combination of accuracy, pocket presence and athleticism. He’s an older prospect who has some durability concerns given his size and style of play, but the San Bernardino, Calif.-native has fans inside the Patriots’ facility for good reason.