In an interesting turn of events, the Florida State Seminoles have landed a veteran quarterback from the transfer portal, but it isn’t one of the primary three names FSU fans had become familiar with.
Ashton Daniels, who has previously played for Stanford and Auburn, will transfer to FSU.
Daniels is 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and played his prep ball in Buford, Georgia. He signed with the Stanford Cardinal out of high school and spent his first three seasons in Palm Alto, playing in 33 total games. He threw for 3986 yards on a 60.8% completion rate with 21 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He also ran for 1117 yards and nine touchdowns in his three seasons with the Cardinal.
Daniels then transferred to Auburn for the 2025 season but was beaten out by Jackson Arnold for the starting role. He ended up replacing Arnold toward the end of October and threw for 797 yards on a 57.1% completion rate with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He ran for another 280 yards and two touchdowns on the Plains. He managed to preserve his redshirt, only appearing in four games in 2025.
Daniels has one year of eligibility remaining. He bonded with FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn on his visit and will now compete to lead the Seminoles in 2026. He is a legitimate threat as a runner but his accuracy throwing the football and his decision-making will need to improve drastically if he is to find success in Tallahassee.
It will be interesting to see where FSU turns for another quarterback. Will they continue to pursue DJ Lagway or will they look to the JUCO ranks instead?
From Daniels’ Auburn bio:
2025: Started three of the last four games of the season at quarterback – vs. Kentucky (11/1), at Vanderbilt (11/8), and vs. Alabama (11/29) – and played in four games … went 68-for-119 with 797 yards and three TDs through the air … added 280 rushing yards and two TDs on 63 carries … made his Auburn debut at Arkansas (10/25) and went 6-for-8 with 77 yards passing while adding 39 rushing yards, leading the team to the comeback win in the second half … made his first start as a Tigers vs. Kentucky (11/1) and went 13-for-28 for 108 yards passing with 48 yards rushing … turned in a career-best game at Vanderbilt (11/8), going 31-for-44 with 353 yards and two TDs in the passing game … his 31 completions marked a career-high … also ran for 89 yards and two TDs against the Commodores … his 442 yards of total offense were the most by an Auburn player since Nick Marshall (505) in the 2014 Iron Bowl and the third most in program history … went 18-for-39 with 259 yards and a TD vs. Alabama … ran for 108 yards with the longest rush being 20 yards against the Crimson Tide … game captain: Vanderbilt, Alabama
Before Auburn: Transfer quarterback from Stanford where he spent the last three season … two-time Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List honoree (Oct. 16, 2023; Nov. 18, 2023) … Manning Award Stars of the Week (Oct. 16, 2023) … 2023 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Midseason Watch List … ACC Quarterback of the Week (Nov. 18, 2024) … threw for 1,700 yards and went 170-for-271 (62.7%) with 10 passing touchdowns in 2024 … set the Stanford single-season rushing record by a quarterback with 669 rushing yards on 148 attempts in 2024 … ran for 129 yards at NC State, tying the Stanford single-game rushing record by a quarterback … played in 12 games with 10 starts in 2023 … passed for 2,247 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore with five of his touchdowns for 40+ yards.
Personal: Born May 29 … son of Hadli and Juan Daniels … has two siblings: Aubrey and Braylen … mother played volleyball at Georgia, while father played football at Georgia … also played lacrosse growing up … graduated from Stanford with a degree in science, technology and society.
