Texas Football: 3 major concerns for top 25 matchup vs. Kansas

Jalon Daniels’ dual-threat ability will be the biggest QB test Texas’ defense has faced

Senior quarterback Jalon Daniels is one of the best offensive players in the Big 12 this season. Daniels is why this Kansas offense is so effective and difficult to prepare for.

Daniels is the star of the show for this multiple Kansas offense that likes to throw so many different looks at opposing defenses. He does so many things well that it makes life extremely difficult for opposing defensive coordinators.

First and foremost, Daniels can sit back in the pocket and pick you apart in the screen, short, and intermediate passing games. Daniels is the highest-graded quarterback in the Big 12 this season on short passing attempts and the second-highest graded on intermediate passes.

Kansas’ offensive line is giving Daniels the time in the pocket to pick apart opposing defenses in the passing game this season. Daniels leads the Big 12 in time to throw in the pocket at a little over three seconds.

That has resulted in Daniels completing nearly 75 percent of his passing attempt s this season, good for best in the Big 12. And many of those completions are going for solid gains, as Daniels averages over 10 adjusted yards per passing attempt.

Another way that Daniels threatens opposing defenses is his dual-threat ability. Daniels is always a threat to take off and run the ball for big gains when his reads aren’t there in the passing game. He can also tuck the ball and run on option plays, which we already talked about Kansas running often this season.

Texas’ defenders must stay assignment-sound this weekend against a quarterback like Daniels that threatens you in so many different ways.

If Kansas upsets Texas this weekend, it will be largely because Daniels finds ways to exploit the Texas defense with the multiplicity and decisiveness that no other quarterback has done to the Longhorns this season.