Could LSU’s Jayden Daniels Go #1 Overall In The NFL Draft?

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is coming up on Thursday April 25th, and its already setting up to be a wild night. As we look over the draft landscape today, the team with the #1 overall pick already has a starter at the position they're projected to take, 5-6 teams are going to be fighting for quarterback talent in the first round, and teams might be prepared to trade like we've never seen before.

So what does all of that mean for LSU's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels? Honestly, we don't know.

The consensus of NFL Draft "experts" is that the holder of the #1 overall pick, the Chicago Bears, will take USC quarterback Caleb Williams. But that story isn't fully written yet.

Even though there are calls saying that there's no fire to the smoke, reports have been circling for months that Williams doesn't want to play in Chicago. Again, his camp and reporters have walked back all of these reports, but they had to start from somewhere, right?

Think back to the 2004 NFL Draft. Eli Manning was in the position that Caleb Williams is now, the consensus #1 overall pick. The San Diego Chargers held that pick, and Eli wasn't about to play for the Chargers. So he told them not to draft him with the pick. But they did, and then had to trade him on draft day to New York.

In other words, this isn't unprecedented.

If Williams decides he's not playing in Chicago, the Bears could look for another QB, or stick with Justin Fields and take another position of need. Or we see another scenario where Williams isn't taken by Chicago at #1...

Perhaps another team is in love with Jayden Daniels...more than Chicago loves Caleb Williams. Chicago would likely be VERY open to trading that first overall pick, and allow someone like Washington, New England, or Denver to slide to the top spot, and take Jayden if they think he's the guy.

The trade scenario might sound wild, but all of these possibilities are very slight, so take them all with a grain of salt.

But back to the original question: Could Jayden Daniels still get picked #1 overall? The answer is "yes", but the chances are probably less than 2%.