Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels will return for a final season in 2025
University of Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels will return for his final season of college football with the Jayhawks in 2025.
Daniels confirmed the news Friday evening with a post on his X social-media account that read in part: “This journey has been nothing short of incredible, but we’re not done yet. The work continues, and the best is still ahead.”
Daniels’ return wasn’t assured, and it is significant: He finished the 2024 season with 2,174 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 410 yards and six TDs.
After a rough start to the year — he tossed eight interceptions in his first five games — Daniels fared better down the stretch.
He participated in KU’s senior day game against Colorado — a win at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium — and talked that day about the significance of everything this year’s team had been through together.
Daniels is set to graduate from KU this month.
“This is a class that has been here since 2020,” he said. “We’ve got guys like Luke Grimm. I mean, Cornell Wheeler’s a transfer, but he’s my roommate and my best friend. Quentin Skinner, as well.
“There’s a lot of guys who came in with that 2020 class, and I feel like being able to cherish that moment with them is something that (made me want to participate).”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first to report the news that Daniels was returning to KU.
Daniels has been instrumental in turning around the Jayhawks program. In 2022, he led Kansas to its first bowl game in over a decade. And then he played one of the best games of his career against Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
He has also battled some nagging injuries at times. He was named the Big 12’s preseason offensive player of the year before the 2023 season but wound up playing in just three games because of a lingering back injury.
KU will lose 15 starters and more than 30 seniors to graduation, so a busy offseason is at hand. The Jayhawks must replace Daniels’ top wide receivers (Grimm, Skinner and Lawrence Arnold) as well as star running back Devin Neal. All have exhausted their NCAA eligibility.
Daniels’ ultimate goal is to play in the NFL, so he will no doubt be watching closely as KU looks to the transfer portal as a means of bringing in new talent.
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 7:31 PM.
