LSU’s Jayden Daniels sees a lot of similarities between him and Ole Miss QB Walker Howard

Walker Howard and Jayden Daniels only spent a season together at LSU but the current Tigers quarterback was impressed with what he saw from the now Ole Miss quarterback in 2022.

Howard was a big quarterback get for Brian Kelly as he was putting his first recruiting class at LSU together but things did not work out and Howard opted to buck family tradition and make his own path at Ole Miss.

Part of that decision was seeing the writing on the wall that Jayden Daniels was going to be the guy for LSU this season and redshirt sophomore Garrett Nussmeier waiting in the wings.

Still Daniels and Howard shared a locker room last season and the the two had a close friendship. Daniels was a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy last weekend and spoke to The Ole Miss Spirit about Howard.

“I love Walker. Walker was like my little brother,” Daniels said. “We used to room with each other the night before the game. He called me and told me he was leaving. I was sad but at the end of the day I was happy that he was making the best decision that he felt for him. Because it’s his life and you don’t want no regrets of, ‘Aw, I should of done this or I should of did that.’”

Daniels led LSU with 2,913 passing yards and 17 touchdowns last season. Howard played in two games but had minimal production, completing two of four pass attempts for seven yards along with six carries for 33 yards.

Following the Tigers win over Purdue in the Citrus Bowl Howard entered the transfer portal and decided Ole Miss was where he wanted to continue his career.

Now Howard is competing once again for playing time at Ole Miss in a room that includes Jaxson Dart and Spencer Howard.

Howard was a mid-year enrollee and participated fully in the spring practices. He showed some of the best raw arm strength of the three quarterbacks, though Sanders was limited while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Throughout the four weeks of spring Howard showed signs that he was more than able to step in for Dart and run the Ole Miss offense if need be. Though things are much different in live action come September.

In the Grove Bowl Howard split time as a quarterback for both the Red and Blue teams. He played behind Dart on the Red Team while Sanders was the starter for the Blue Team.

During Ole Miss’ annual spring scrimmage Howard completed 11 of 13 pass attempts for 185 yards and three touchdowns. He also had five carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.

“I watched the spring game. I saw what (Howard) did,” Daniels added. “I’m happy for him. I talk to Walker every once in a while. Just keeping in touch because we had those moments in the hotel room that you don’t ever get back.”

Many view Daniels as one of the top Southeastern Conference quarterbacks this season, including Las Vegas as he is the first SEC quarterback listed in the current Heisman Trophy odds.

So when Daniels offers up a strong impression of Howard’s game it is one that Ole Miss fans should get excited about.

“He’s more athletic that what people give him (credit for),” Daniels said. “He can move around a lot. A lot more than people give him credit for. Going out there, very similar to my game. But just going out there and just playing football. Not thinking and just going out there and having fun.”

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