Why Jayhawks QB Jalon Daniels changed up his routine with final KU season at hand
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jalon Daniels led offseason training with new KU receivers in California.
- Daniels missed last spring due to injury, disrupting timing with receivers.
- Fully healthy after knee surgery, Daniels eyes a strong final season in 2025.
Entering his final season of college football, Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels has done things a little differently this offseason.
He’s spent a couple of days training with KU’s new-look receiver corps in his home state of California.
Those receivers include a slew of transfers who are vying to replace such program staples as Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner and Lawrence Arnold.
The players who joined Daniels in California included transfers Cam Pickett, Emanuel Henderson and Levi Wentz, plus freshman Jaden Nickens. KU returnees Doug Emilien and Keaton Kubecka were also present.
The group spent about four days together, working out and getting to know each other.
“This is a receiver room that I did not have the chance to be able to do much of spring (practices) with,” Daniels said. “Also, it’s not the same receiver room that I spent the last five years with.”
Trying to pin down who came up with the idea is a bit tricky.
“Eman came back home with me the last break that we had,” Daniels said. “He came and trained with me and everything.
“He was just like, ‘Bro, what if more people came?’ I was like, ‘What if more people came?’” … I’m never going to take credit, so I’m going to go ahead and give it to Eman. But in all reality, when you talk about putting it together, it takes a little process to do that.”
Working closely with his pass-catchers is something that Daniels was unable to do last offseason. Between his back injury and a slew of injuries to his receivers, they never really had a full offseason together.
The result wasn’t pretty, especially early in the season. Daniels threw eight interceptions in his first five games.
“Timing, continuity and everything that we’re doing really just got discombobulated,” KU coach Lance Leipold said.
Things appear to be a little more stable now. Despite undergoing knee surgery in February, Daniels finally appears to be healthy. He didn’t participate in all of KU’s spring practices this year, but he seems to be on track to play in the Jayhawks zero-week game against Fresno State on Aug. 23.
Leipold understands that everyone wants to know more about Daniels’ current health status, but he also notes that his QB was able to play in all 12 games last season.
After a tough start last fall, Daniels settled down in the latter half of the season. He finished the year with 2,174 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 410 yards and six TDs.
Now, Daniels enters his last season of college football with NFL aspirations. He’s not focusing on individual glory, but rather making sure KU avoids a repeat of season’s 5-7 campaign.
“Win,” Daniels said when asked his goal now. “Maintaining that 1-0 mentality. Win. Even if you go 0-1 or 1-0, (we’re) 0-0 all over again. Go win, 1-0 again.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
