SEC Football: 3 2021 NFL Draft prospects who need good season

J.T. Daniels, QB, Georgia

Former 5-star recruit J.T. Daniels has been through a whirlwind since starting his first game for USC in 2018. Daniels started 11 games for the Trojans in 2018. He threw 14 touchdowns, ten interceptions, and completed less than 60% of his passes. It was an up and down year, but many people were encouraged for his future.

Unfortunately for Daniels, he would only play one game for USC in 2019. He’d lose his season to an injury, and his job to freshman phenom Kedon Slovis. Slovis won PAC-12 freshman of the year in relief of Daniels. Daniels would enter the transfer portal and head south to Athens, Georgia to join the Georgia Bulldogs. He was not the only quarterback to transfer to Kirby Smart’s team. Former Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman also elected to join the Bulldogs in 2020.

Newman was the projected starter all the way until his decision to opt out of the season. Even with that, there is no guarantee that Daniels can start week one against Arkansas. He has not been medically cleared to play as of now. D’Wan Mathis is the projected starter for week one. Daniels has been practicing, but is likely to be a game time decision for the Arkansas game. When he finally does play, Daniels needs to impress. He will be draft eligible, while it remains unlikely he will come out.

Next year, Georgia is bringing in 5-star quarterback prospect Brock Vandagriff, a former Oklahoma commit. Daniels will need to put some really good tape on display for NFL teams this season. It’s been a year since his injury, but he is not cleared to play. There will be durability questions. He will play against elite competition down South in 2020. No more PAC-12 defenses to put his accuracy on display against. After this season, he will still have two more years of eligibility left. Many of these players want to get to the NFL as fast as possible, and quarterback classes just keep getting better.