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NFL Draft: Why ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky ranks Jayden Daniels over Caleb Williams

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Ryan Bologna | Last updated 3/4/24

To many, Caleb Williams is far and away the best quarterback prospect in this year’s NFL Draft, but Dan Orlovsky turned some heads when he said that he would take LSU’s Jayden Daniels No. 1 over Williams and Drake Maye. During an appearance on The Rich Eisen show, Orlovsky explained his stance.

“After you know watching, I don’t like to say anything about these guys unless I’ve watched all of their snaps in totality,” Dan Orlovsky said on The Rich Eisen Show. “The only three that I’ve done in totality are Caleb, Jayden and Drake Maye. After watching all of that I would take Jayden No. 1. I think that three things that make it stand out for me are No. 1, I think his ball placement versus man coverage is the best in the draft. We see that in the NFL on a consistent basis, we’re starting to see more and more of it. this is why I say Rich every quarterback in the NFL is accurate. It’s the NFL, there’s 60 people on the planet that have those jobs. Everybody’s accurate. Accuracy is throwing it to your guy, ball placement throwing it away from the defense, he’s got the best on tape.”

Orlovsky’s other two observations on Jayden Daniels were the explosive plays he made in college translate to the NFL play style and the pocket presence.

Will Jayden Daniels translate to the NFL?

Daniels had an incredible season with LSU. He won the Heisman Trophy, which was a catalyst for his stock rising so high, and the reason he is expected to go in the first three picks in the NFL Draft, whether that be before Caleb Williams and Drake Maye or after.

Some question whether Daniels can read the field at a level that would be good enough to succeed at the NFL level, pointing out some cases in which he passes up open receivers to run, which is an obvious strength as well.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see where Daniels lands in the upcoming NFL Draft.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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