After the Kansas City Chiefs hosted Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels as part of the team’s local pro day
, The Kansas City Star reported that the team met with him for multiple hours in a visit that was similar to a Top-30 visit.The NFL allows local players to be tested at the club’s facility without those visits counting against the team’s top 30 visits, as long as the team does not pay for the players’ transportation to the facility.
Background
Jayhawk fans will be familiar with Daniels as the folk hero quarterback who played six seasons at KU.
In 2022, he led the team to its first bowl game since 2008, although the 6-6 Jayhawks ultimately lost 55-53 in overtime to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Liberty Bowl. Daniels threw for 544 yards and five touchdowns in the losing effort. While 2022 was the coming-out party for Daniels, he was unable to capitalize and build on his success in 2023; he only appeared in three games amid injury struggles.
Daniels had an up-and-down year in 2024 and struggled with turnovers, throwing 12 interceptions and just 14 touchdowns. In 2025, Daniels was back to his 2022 form, but the Jayhawks floundered down the stretch, losing five of their last six games and averaging just 17.8 points per game in those losses.
Aside from a middling Kansas team, the largest program that made Daniels an offer out of high school was Army. For the three-star recruit from Lawndale, California, Daniels’ college career is mostly a story of untapped potential. Considering where the Jayhawks were when Daniels stepped on the field (arguably the worst team in the Power Five), the turnaround to where the program currently stands is quite remarkable.
None of this happened by accident, however. Jalon Daniels’ mother, Star, was an instrumental part of her son’s life, and the reason he is the man and player he is today. A single mother, Star worked two jobs to provide for her son and waited for him in the car outside of high school parties to make sure he got home on time and did not miss curfew. Per Dane Brugler of The Athletic, she made academics as important as sports and told him:
“I’m going to make sure you have 100 percent of what you need, 90 percent of what you want,” Star told her only son, “but you have to do your job, because I don’t get to quit my job.”
Daniels never wavered from his mother’s teachings. He knew that college programs “don’t want a dumb quarterback.”
With his initial earnings via NIL (name, image and likeness), he decided to pay forward his mother’s love by starting the MOM2JD6 nonprofit organization, whose mission is to provide single-parent homes with the resources needed for their families to succeed in sports and education.
My analysis
Daniels has intriguing intangibles as a prospect, most notably his mobility and arm strength.
While he will never be confused with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, he is quick enough to escape the pocket and pick up easy yards when the defense allows it. He is excellent at avoiding pass rushers and extending the play when needed. Being undersized for the position, however, has seemingly led to injuries more often than any player would like. He is also an inaccurate passer most of the time.
Daniels also struggles with getting through his progressions quickly enough and cannot process the entire field; he is often relegated to picking a side of the field and staying there throughout the life of the rep — regardless of who is open on the other side of the field. He also tends to stare down his receivers, like in the clip above.
Still, Daniels shows enough flashes to pique your interest. He has a nice touch on his passes and throws a very catchable ball. One argument in Daniels’ defense is that Kansas has not had a premier receiving target during his time there. The production and highlights on his resume come with underwhelming offensive weapons.
Daniels does a great job in this video of keeping his head up and his eyes downfield as he rolls out and drops a 25-yard dime in the bucket of the receiver while on the move.
There are small flashes of a young, raw version of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Daniels, as he is always looking for the homerun swing and does not shy away from trusting his receivers, allowing them to go up and win the ball. The issue is that many of his best moments in college will yield interceptions in the pros.
Fit with the Chiefs
Fit: Low
Round grade: seventh round or UDFA (undrafted rookie free agent)
The Chiefs have Justin Fields on the roster as Mahomes’ backup for the 2026 season. The organization rarely keeps three quarterbacks on the active roster. So, unless Kansas City is eyeing a position change for Daniels, the best he could hope for on this team is to spend the 2026 season on the practice squad.
With all the needs on this roster, the Chiefs should under no circumstances use a draft pick on a quarterback in this mediocre quarterback class. But if he is available as an undrafted free agent, it would be fun to take a swing at Daniels and see how it works out.
