Is Jalon Daniels the starting quarterback for Kansas football? Certainly looks that way.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Kansas football coach Lance Leipold is being vague, and he knows it.

A question posed to Leipold last week during the Big 12 Conference’s media days at AT&T Stadium is addressing whether he’s ready to name a starting quarterback. Because junior Jalon Daniels is among the Jayhawks’ representatives there, and the only Kansas quarterback in that group, one could deduce Leipold might be ready to publicly state Daniels is in that position. It’d be a far different situation than last year, when Leipold didn’t release the name of his starter — now-redshirt senior Jason Bean — until not long before the season opener.

Leipold, in response, is explaining Daniels is there for a number of reasons that include Daniels’ play as the starter the final three games last year — such as the overtime win at Texas. Leipold is joking he hasn’t named sophomore running back Devin Neal as a starter either. While acknowledging his answer is vague and the question valid, Leipold highlights how they are fostering competition, how Bean is improving and that they know what’s expected of Daniels in August.

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But considering the passion Daniels is speaking with later on that day, the manner in which he’s carrying himself, it’d be hard to characterize him as anything but the individual set to be Kansas’ starter for the Sept. 2 opener at home against Tennessee Tech.

“I feel like we’re all helping each other build,” Daniels, asked if he feels he’s the No. 1 quarterback at Kansas, is saying. “At the end of the day, I’m not into all the numbers or any of that type of stuff. Because at the end of the day, I want to be able to make myself better. I said it last year before the season, I’m going to say it again, only person I’m competing with is myself. At the end of the day, it’s a you versus you mentality. If you feel like you’re not able to compete with the ones around you, that just means that you don’t feel confident in what you can do.”

Neal, speaking to Daniels being a face of the program, adds later: “He's handling everything coming his way like someone that’s really humble. Because he can take it and run with it, and the fact that he still talks about everybody else before himself really means a lot and it shows his character. And that’s one of the things I respect about him.”

Remaining committed to improvement

Daniels understands how quickly a situation can change.

The “next-man-up” phrase that’s so often used around football became a reality for the Jayhawks at quarterback in 2021. Last season, Bean and then-redshirt senior Miles Kendrick suffering injuries in an early November game against Kansas State is why Daniels was thrust into the starting role the next week against Texas.

Because Daniels remained poised for any possibility, as he said last week they have to be this year as well, he helped guide Kansas to a road win against the Longhorns. He threw for 202 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 45 yards and a score. After the game he could stand on the field with now-redshirt sophomore tight end Jared Casey, who caught Daniels’ two-point conversion pass that won the game in overtime, and have a conversation as they stared up at the scoreboard.

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“Dang, bro, they ain’t never think that we was going to be able to do something like this,” Daniels remembers their discussion going. “Don’t it just feel good being able to prove people wrong?”

Daniels was limited at times this spring as he continued his recovery from a surgery to repair what he said was a “lower-leg injury” he suffered when he was “rolled up on” in the second-to-last game of the season against TCU. But he specified that was a move made purely out of caution, as he worked his way back to feeling 100%. He said he was able to work through minor pain issues during the spring, and is 100% now.

So, that work in offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense can continue unabated as the Jayhawks move toward a second season with Leipold and Kotelnicki in Lawrence. Daniels can keep developing timing on route concepts with the wide receivers who returned, like a potential No. 1 target in redshirt sophomore Lawrence Arnold, and a newcomer like Minnesota transfer Douglas Emilien. Daniels can carry on with learning how dynamic the running back room led by Neal can be.

“This is my first year where I’m able to go into the next season with that same offense,” said Daniels, who did start six games as a freshman in 2020 when Les Miles was still the head coach. “So, I definitely was able to get more comfortable with everything that’s going on, finally being able to know this play is going to work against that defensive coverage and just being able to keep breaking down our offense in that aspect.”

What Daniels is working on individually, Leipold said, is a mix of what Daniels has a desire to improve and directives from the coaching staff. There are evaluations and meetings where they go over various details.

In addition to the coaching changes that Daniels is not having to deal with this offseason, Leipold noted there aren’t the same restrictions that Daniels used to have to manage due to the pandemic. Being a student of the game in the past, Leipold explained, has been stymied by the policies and procedures that had to be put in place.

“Now he has a chance to do that and learn and grow as a quarterback,” Leipold said. “And these guys watch different things and see it and watch the time or they read stories about, whether it be Philip Rivers or (Tom) Brady and (Aaron) Rodgers, whoever it is, and the time they spend. I think he's embraced that as he’s starting to see, as he’s becoming — he’s been in college now a couple years. He gets to see it. He’s built his routine. He’s comfortable. He’s maturing. All those things help elevate games for guys.”

And the work Daniels is involved in is a commitment to putting his body in the best position possible, too.

With the help of director for sports performance Matt Gildersleeve, Daniels said he played at 210 pounds last year and is working to be between 215 and 220 pounds this year. The memory of playing “too small” as a freshman, when he was “17 going against grown men” as he put it, is fresh on his mind. He wants his body to be prepared not just for success at the college level, but a professional opportunity in the NFL as well.

“I’ve had the dream of making it to the NFL since I can remember,” said Daniels, who also wants to be a part of turning Kansas’ program around. “Ever since I started watching football, I’ve had that dream of going to the NFL. That’s just something that I want to do for myself, but also to make my family proud.”

Remaining committed to teammates

Daniels was supposed to redshirt last season, when the possibility he could play the final couple games against TCU and West Virginia arose. He said Leipold allowed him to make the decision, about whether to save a year of eligibility or use it for a season that wasn’t going to wind up ending with a bowl game. Daniels chose to play for his teammates, and while they lost those last two games to finish 2-10 in 2021 they continued to build momentum after the Texas win that’s carried through the offseason so far.

It’s a high-profile example, but one that explains why Daniels’ efforts to continually befriend teammates shouldn’t come as a surprise. Away from the football facility, he said he tries to hang out with as many teammates as he can. He believes many things in football are contagious, and if someone sees him engaged in a certain way it increases their likelihood of doing the same.

“It really came to me when you realize that the coaches are the ones that are calling out the plays, coaching you, doing all of this outside of football, but the outcome of the game at the end of the day is on the players,” Daniels said. “You have to be able to communicate with the ones around you. You have to be able to be confident in your player next to you making that play. Even if he makes a mistake, boost him up. If he makes a mistake, don’t let him get too far in his head because the only thing that’s going to do is make you start messing up.”

One close relationship Daniels has developed is one with freshman cornerback Brian Dilworth. Dilworth is someone Daniels interacted with while Dilworth was going through the recruiting process. Since Dilworth’s arrived on campus, the two have grown closer.

Daniels said Dilworth will reach out with questions about the program, or inquiries about what he could potentially do better. Daniels explained it’s not about taking the newcomer under his wing, in that sense. It’s about helping Dilworth reach his goals, because Daniels doesn’t think people decide to play college football just to play college football.

“At the end of the day, you have a goal of something that you want to get out of it,” Daniels said. “So, one thing that my strength and conditioning coach teaches as a leader — you don't want to try to make somebody do something. You want to try to make them want to do it, and that’s the biggest emphasis that I’ve taken on as a leader this offseason.”

Daniels also spoke glowingly of the relationship he has with Bean, referring to him as “my dog.” The two of them, Daniels said, have the same type of relationship he had with Kendrick before Kendrick’s time at Kansas came to an end. Daniels feels as if the two of them can talk about anything.

Bean has always been a quieter person, but Daniels thinks they’ve been able to get him to open up more. That’s what this offseason has been about, Daniels said, for Bean and others. And while it was only their first season on the roster together in 2021, Daniels said the experience of Bean’s injury and how it led to Daniels taking over the starting job wasn’t tough for their relationship.

“When he got hurt, he told me, ‘All right, bro, it’s your time,’” said Daniels, looking back to this past November. “Like, ‘Go in there, do what you’ve got to do.’ That’s what I mean by me and Bean’s relationship is very cool, and very chill. Like, me and him are like brothers. Like, I’ve never had this type of relationship with another quarterback that I’m supposed to be ‘in competition with.’”

It’s something Leipold acknowledged makes their situation at the position easier, because it eliminates what otherwise would have been a distraction. Leipold doesn’t see conflict, or people choosing sides.

Leipold, a graduate of Wisconsin-Whitewater, said when he was in college a quarterback who played ahead of him was from his hometown and they were roommates for a year. That, he allowed, can make it tough at times.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's what Kansas football expects from quarterback Jalon Daniels