LAWRENCE – Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels will be under center when the Jayhawks begin the season next week against Lindenwood.
“I’m ready to go,” Daniels said Tuesday at KU football media day. “I’m ready for game day. I’ve said it for a few months now if we had a game tomorrow, I’d be 100 percent ready to go. And honestly, I’m just looking forward to Lindenwood.”
Daniels and the No. 22-ranked Jayhawks will play the Lions at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. KU coach Lance Leipold declared Daniels the starter earlier in the day, saying his senior QB has looked great in camp.
“I’ve seen a lot of good things from Jalon Daniels in the last 10 days,” Leipold said. “He hasn’t missed anything. He’s played well and he’s confident and excited. His enthusiasm is contagious, and we all know that it’s important for him to stay healthy, but it’s good to see.”
Daniels suffered a back injury and played in just three games last year. In 2022, he missed half the team’s games with a shoulder injury. Over the past two seasons (12 games), Daniels has thrown for 2,719 yards and 23 touchdowns with just five interceptions and rushed for 499 yards and seven touchdowns.
The dual-threat quarterback’s best game came two years ago in a bowl game against Arkansas when he threw for 544 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for another. Last season, Daniels completed 74.7 percent of his passes for 705 yards and five touchdowns and just one pick while adding 74 yards on the ground before getting injured.
Daniels was named this year’s Big 12 preseason offensive player of the year, but he said he’s trying to block out the hype.
“I have to focus on what I have to focus on,” Daniels said. “To be honest with you, preseason awards is not postseason awards. You don’t win those in the preseason. So take that and the preseason awards as motivation to be able to help yourself win that at the end of the year.
“But at the end of the day, I know those awards don’t amount to nothing when you’re talking about postseason.”
Accolades aside, Daniels said what he’s most proud of is helping turn the team around and leaving it better than when he started.
“We had a legendary running back, Tony Sands, talk to us, and he told us that you want to do your best to try to leave a brick here,” Daniels said as he gazed out a window at the construction of the team’s new stadium. “One thing I wanted when I signed to the University of Kansas was be able to help turn around the program.
“Being able to say I’ve done as much as I can and be able to go out here every single year and make plays when we have the ball. And to be able to say I left a brick here, I feel like I’ve been able to do that.”
