The JT Daniels saga ends as he heads to the Big 12 — a perfect fit

The JT Daniels experiment is over in Athens. In reality, Daniels’ time in Athens was up —although we did not know it back then — when he did not finish the game against Vandy due to the recurring injury.

With Daniels recently announcing his transfer to West Virginia, Athens becomes another stop on the wandering road of his collegiate career.

Arriving in Athens from USC, where his Pac-12 experience was cut short by an ACL injury, hopes of this five-star quarterback leading the Dawgs to a national championship were sky-high.

Despite the ACL injury lingering longer than anyone would have liked, Daniels showed just how talented a quarterback he is during his SEC stint for Georgia.

Lest we forget that the Daniels-led offense defeated Clemson in Game 1, followed by victories over South Carolina and Vanderbilt — setting the Dawgs on course for their historic unbeaten season.

Daniels recovered from injuries to make appearances against Missouri and Charleston Southern later in the season. However, by that time, the team belonged to now starting quarterback, Stetson Bennett.

With news that Bennett was returning to Athens for his super-senior year, Daniels knew it was time to make another stop on his meandering football journey.

Why did JT Daniels choose West Virginia?

After announcing his decision to transfer,  Daniels visited Missouri and Oregon State. However, it was Morgantown that grabbed him. So then, what made Daniels choose West Virginia?

Certainly, reuniting with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell is a big draw for Daniels. Harrell was offensive coordinator at USC while Daniels was in Los Angeles, and the pair know each other well. Getting a head start on Harrell’s air raid offense will be a huge advantage for Daniels in winning the starting job for the Mountaineers.

Harrell moved to Morgantown after Lincoln Riley took over the head coaching role at USC and brought in his staff. He is a proponent of the pass-heavy “air raid” offense, having played quarterback in Mike Leach’s Texas Tech team and then moving to Washington State to coach under Leach, who developed, evolved, and mastered the scheme.

Another advantage is that of the current quarterbacks on the WVU roster. Daniels is easily the most experienced. Garrett Greene, Will Crowder and Nicco Marchiol have precious little game time between them, resulting in an inexperienced quarterback room before Daniels joins.

Given Daniels’ prior experiences at USC and Georgia, he will be keen to grab the starting role immediately.

The scheme is one thing, but protection is another. Another advantage that West Virginia has over the other teams interested in Daniels is that the Mountaineers have all five offensive linemen returning for another season.

Those returns are enormous for Daniels, with the fair share of injuries he has rehabbed through, so staying healthy is vital.

The so-called “Family of Five” demonstrated last season that they could be a solid unit and will look to build on their progress last year. Number one job will be to protect Daniels, who thrives in the pocket but must be protected.

Daniels will also have targets to hit, which makes his graduate transfer with two years of eligibility left intriguing. Current Mountaineers wide receivers Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Sam James have a combined 2,676 career receiving yards.

The offense is completed with Colorado State transfer tight end Brian Polendey and starting running back Tony Mathis Jr.

So as long as Daniels can remain healthy and upright, it would appear that he has the tools to make a success of his time in Morgantown.

One interesting twist in the plot comes early in the season when the Mountaineers play their first game of the 2022 schedule against Pitt.

With the Panthers losing Kenny Pickett to the NFL Draft, they too will start a new quarterback. Another Californian and ex-USC trojan — Kedan Slovis, the wunderkind who took the starting quarterback job from Daniels when he got injured at USC.