Did Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels play together at LSU? It might be a reasonable question some have as the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders quarterbacks face off in prime time during the NFL’s Week 3 Monday Night Football doubleheader. It will be the first NFL matchup between two former LSU QBs in 43 years, and the first showdown to feature two Heisman Trophy winners from the same school on opposite sidelines.
The answer is no, but they are linked in ways that go beyond a Heisman Trophy. Burrow and Daniels set an elite quarterback dynasty at LSU in motion, forging a legacy that has no apparent end in sight.
It all started in 2018, when Burrow — an unheralded career backup at Ohio State — joined LSU’s roster in the spring as a graduate transfer, granting him immediate eligibility. He won the starting job in fall camp and had a respectable, if modest, debut with the Tigers, accruing a 10-3 record as the starter while throwing for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Very few predicted what would come next. Burrow entered the 2019 season well-entrenched as LSU’s starter and left with arguably the greatest single-season quarterback performance in college football history. Burrow set FBS records for passing touchdowns (60), total touchdowns (65) and passer rating (202). His 5,671 yards through the air that year are tied for fourth all-time in FBS history, and his 76.3% completion percentage led the NCAA.
Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award and several other offensive trophies. He was also a unanimous All-American and the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Burrow led LSU to its first 15-0 record in program history and won a College Football Playoff National Championship while slinging the ball to the likes of Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
Burrow was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and has gone on to earn NFL Comeback of the Year and Pro Bowl honors. But while Burrow was carving defenses up in 2019, Daniels was in the midst of his freshman season at Arizona State as a top-40 prospect out of California’s Cajon High School.
Daniels was named Arizona State’s starter immediately and led the Sun Devils to an 8-5 record as a true freshman, highlighted by a win against Justin Herbert-led Oregon in which he threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns. But Arizona State only played four games in 2020, and Daniels had a quiet 2021 amid a tumultuous season filled with staff turnover and NCAA investigation into the team for COVID-related recruiting violations.
So Daniels entered the transfer portal in February of 2022 and eventually committed to LSU. Daniels led the Tigers to 10 wins in 2022 — coach Brian Kelly’s first season with the program — but took things to another level (personally, at least) during his 2023 Heisman-winning campaign.
His 4,946 total yards led the NCAA and his 208 passer rating set a new FBS record — surpassing Burrow’s from four years earlier in the process. He also amassed 50 total touchdowns and became the first player in FBS history to pass for 12,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in a career.
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Daniels went off the board second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and was named Washington’s starter out of training camp. His successor at LSU, Garrett Nussmeier, may not be far off from following in Daniels’ footsteps.
Nussmeier has emerged as one of the best pure passers in college football. His 13 touchdowns rank second in the FBS, behind Miami’s Cam Ward, and he is second in the SEC with 1,247 yards passing. His 70.6% completion percentage also leads also leads all FBS passers with a minimum of 150 attempts.
LSU is set up extremely well at quarterback for the future. The Tigers signed four-star signal caller Colin Hurley in 2024 and currently hold a commitment from Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2025.
The current run started with Burrow, though, and Monday night will be a full-circle moment between two of the three Heisman Trophy winners in LSU’s proud history.
