LSU's Heisman-winning Jayden Daniels to skip bowl game vs. Wisconsin

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels is skipping the Tigers’ bowl game against Wisconsin and will enter the NFL Draft.

“Thank you to everyone who made this happen, but all great things must come to an end,” Daniels said in a video posted on social media Monday. “I feel better about the state of the program with the quarterback moving forward.”

No. 13 LSU and Wisconsin are set to meet in the ReliaQuest Bowl on on New Year’s Day in Tampa, Fla. Garrett Nussmeier, in his third season at LSU and with two more seasons of eligibility left, is slated to start against the Badgers after serving as Daniels’ backup and seeing action in five games this season.

Daniels led the nation in total offense this season, passing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns to go with 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing.

He was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 9 in New York. The three other finalists were Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

Daniels played five years of college football — the first three at Arizona State. He transferred to LSU in 2022, which also was coach Brian Kelly’s first year in Baton Rouge after more than a decade coaching at Notre Dame.

After winning the starting job at LSU in 2022, Daniels blossomed into one of the most prolific dual-threat QBs in the nation. He passed for 2,913 yards and rushed for 885 yards while leading the Tigers to an SEC Western Division title in a campaign highlighted by an upset victory over Alabama.

This year, Daniels became the second LSU quarterback in the past five seasons to win the Heisman. Joe Burrow won in 2019, the year he led LSU to its last national title.

Daniels also was named AP Player of the Year and won the Davey O’Brien Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.