Big 12 Football: Can JT Daniels make WVU a conference title contender?

Some of the biggest news to surface around the Big 12 football landscape this week concerned an addition out of the NCAA Transfer Portal for the West Virginia Mountaineers. West Virginia added a commitment out of the transfer portal from the former USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs redshirt junior quarterback JT Daniels.

A report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel on the morning of April 13 announced Daniels’ commitment to West Virginia out of the portal. Daniels committed to West Virginia over other top schools in his recruitment out of the transfer portal such as the Oregon State Beavers and Mizzou Tigers.

He visited all three schools within the last few weeks. And it was hard to tell exactly where he was leaning after each of these visits. At one point, it looked like head coach Jonathan Smith and the Beavers were the favorite. But head coach Neal Brown and West Virginia remained a strong contender in his recruitment throughout each of the last few weeks.

This was good work by Brown and the Mountaineers staff to land a commitment from Daniels out of the portal this spring. West Virginia was seeking out help at the quarterback position in the portal this offseason following the departure of their former senior starting signal-caller Jarret Doege. After putting his name in the portal a few months ago, Doege landed with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the Conference-USA back on Jan. 16.

Moreover, there’s a good chance that the Mountaineers will get a real upgrade at the quarterback position with Daniels over Doege. If nothing else, Daniels has a higher ceiling than Doege.

But Daniels will have to contend with the consistency that Doege brought to the table in each of the last three years playing for the Mountaineers. While Doege was not a sensational quarterback by any means, he was at least steady. He registered nearly 6,500 passing yards, 43 total touchdowns, and 19 interceptions, over the course of the last three seasons in Morgantown.

Big 12 football adds another notable transfer QB with JT Daniels committing to West Virginia

Meanwhile, Daniels registered nearly 2,000 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, and just five picks in the last two seasons playing for Georgia.

Daniels flashed the real potential that made him special during his recruitment out of high school in a little more than a half-dozen starts in the last two seasons in Athens. But injuries and ongoing quarterback competition limited the number of starts Daniels had since 2020.

And it was not Daniels that led the Dawgs to a National Championship last season. Former walk-on quarterback Stetson Bennett was the starter that led the Dawgs to their first national title since 1980 a few months ago.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue with the talent upgrade the Mountaineers are getting at the quarterback position by adding Daniels out of the portal this year. If he can stay healthy, Daniels has the potential to be one of the very best quarterbacks in the Big 12, if not one of the better quarterbacks in the entire country.

His health is the main question mark for him at West Virginia, though.

West Virginia has experienced a ton of attrition in the portal since last fall. Brown and the Mountaineers lost well over a dozen players to the transfer portal since last fall and are still trying to replace all the depth that is gone this offseason.

Adding Daniels will help the West Virginia offense in terms of finding their starting quarterback likely for the next season or two. But they still have work to do in the transfer portal to truly get the necessary depth to contend in the Big 12 on each side of the ball in 2022.

If West Virginia can add at least a handful of immediate contributors out of the portal on the offensive side of the ball around Daniels this offseason, they could be a sleeper team to watch in the Big 12 in 2022.

West Virginia does bring back a good amount of experience at the skill positions. Four of their five most productive wide receivers from last season are likely set to return. West Virginia also has a pretty potent duo at running back this year between the former Clemson transfer Lyn-J Dixon and rising redshirt junior Tony Mathis.

Yet, the defense still has a lot of questions to answer with roughly a half-dozen key departures via the transfer portal this offseason ravaging the depth of a pretty productive group from last season. If the defense performs anywhere close to the level they did last season, though, West Virginia should be in a good spot this fall.

In a world where Daniels stays healthy and transitions smooth with his supporting cast at the skill positions, West Virginia could be an intriguing under-the-radar team to watch in the Big 12 in 2022. There’s no doubt that adding Daniels makes them more dangerous than before.

West Virginia finished up last season with a record of 6-7 (4-5 Big 12). They will now be in the majority in terms of Big 12 programs that will likely have a new starting quarterback in 2022 by way of the transfer portal.