LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award as the top quarterback in college football Friday, joining a star-studded list of O’Brien Award winners that includes Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and 2022 winner Max Duggan of TCU. Duggan also finished second in the voting for last year’s Heisman Trophy.
Daniels is the second LSU quarterback to win the Davey O’Brien Award and also the second LSU player to win both the O’Brien Award and prestigious Heisman Trophy. The first was Joe Burrow, who won both awards in 2019. LSU running back Billy Cannon won the Heisman in 1959.
Daniels was announced as the 2023 O’Brien winner during Friday’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN and as the Heisman winner during a ceremony in New York on Saturday. On Thursday, he was named Associated Press player of the year.
Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. was runner-up in the Heisman voting, Oregon’s Bo Nix finished third and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. finished fourth.
Daniels transferred to LSU from Arizona State in 2022 and led the nation’s best offense this season as the Tigers gained 4,946 yards in 12 games (412.2 per game). The 6-foot-4, 210-pound native of San Bernardino, California, passed for 3,812 yards, third nationally, and his 40 TDs passing were tied for first with Nix, who played in one more game than Daniels.
Daniels also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 TDs. With 50 touchdowns, rushing and passing combined, plus a 2-point conversion on a passing play, he was responsible for a nation-high 302 points.
The Davey O’Brien Award is presented annually by the Fort Worth-based Davey O’Brien Foundation. Daniels will receive the O’Brien trophy during an awards dinner at the Fort Worth Club on Feb. 19.
This story was updated to include Daniels’ Heisman Trophy win.
