Injury-prone QB Jalon Daniels to start for Kansas
Aug 20, 2024, 03:48 PM ET
LAWRENCE, Kan.– Jalon Daniels will be under center when No. 22 Kansas opens the season versus Lindenwood next week.Jayhawks coach
Lance Leipold validated Tuesday the electrifying however injury-prone quarterback has stayed healthy through fall camp and will be ready for the game on Aug. 29. Daniels hurt his shoulder and missed half of their breakout 2022 season, then had a back injury that limited him to simply 3 games last season.
“He will begin the opener,” Leipold stated. “I have actually seen a lot of advantages from Jalon Daniels in the last 10 days, and he hasn’t missed anything. He’s played well and he’s confident and he’s delighted. His interest is contagious. And all of us understand that it is necessary for him to stay healthy, but it’s good to see.”
Daniels’ health might decide whether the Jayhawks can make a college football playoff run in the new-look Huge 12, where Texas and Oklahoma are no longer around and the path towards its championship game is large open.
“I indicate, it’s absolutely exciting. My last game really having the ability to play protested BYU,” Daniels said, describing a win over the Cougars on Sept. 23, 2023. “So I feel like, you know, I’m just going to make the most of the opportunity that’s given.”
The dual-threat quarterback has tossed for 2,729 backyards and 23 goals with just five interceptions over 12 games the previous two seasons, though even those outstanding numbers are a bit deceiving. He didn’t play the full game in several instances.In the Jayhawks’bowl game versus Arkansas two years earlier, Daniels tossed for 555 lawns and 5 scores while running for another goal in a triple-overtime loss. And in the 3 games he played last season, Daniels completed almost 75 percent of his passes for 705 yards with five goals and a single interception in wins over Illinois, Nevada and BYU.The reality that Daniels has been on the field, uninterrupted, throughout training school has buoyed the self-confidence of a team that has greater expectations than at any point in current memory. Kansas returns its leading 4 wide receivers– Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner and Trevor Wilson– in addition to 1,200-yard rush Devin Neal and backup Daniel Hishaw Jr. from a team that went 9-4 and ended up No. 23 in the last AP Top 25, even with productive backup Jason Bean at quarterback.
“They’re all delighted. Quentin Skinner is his roomie, he and [linebacker] Cornell [Wheeler] deal with Jalon, and they have actually been great support for him the entire way,” Leipold said. “Devin and Jalon are really close as well. To see those guys– they’re not just talented guys but they are good friends, too. And great colleagues and supporting, and it’s been great to see.”