SEC Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2023 season
5. Jayden Daniels becomes the fourth SEC QB to throw for 2,000 and run for 1,000 in a season
Jayden Daniels was one of the biggest instant impact SEC football additions last season as he helped lead LSU to the SEC Championship Game in his first year at LSU after transferring in from Arizona State. On the year, Daniels had a 68.6% completion percentage, 2,913 passing yards, 17 passing TD’s, 3 INT’s, 885 rushing yards, and 11 rushing TD’s.
I believe that Daniels will take his play to another level in 2023 and add some more rushing yards to his credit as he will become just the fourth SEC QB to throw for 2K and run 1K in a season. Daniels would join Cam Newton (2010), Johnny Manziel (2012), and Nick Fitzgerald (2016) as the only QB’s to do so in SEC football history.
Daniels has now run for over 700 yards in back-to-back seasons (710 in 2021 at Arizona State and 885 last year at LSU). I could definitely see him reaching 1,000 rushing yards this season. I’m not really all that worried about him hitting 2,000 passing yards (he’s done it in all three of his collegiate seasons as a full-time starter), but the question will be whether he can hit that rushing mark.
6. Brock Bowers ends up top 25 all-time in the SEC in all three major receiving categories
Barring injury, Brock Bowers will almost assuredly go down as the SEC’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving TD’s among tight ends. The question however is just how high he can climb up the all-time lists in those categories overall (including wide receivers). You have to remember, he’s a tight end heading into this third (and likely final) season on a list full of wide receivers (who some of which played 4 seasons).
Bowers currently sits at career totals of 119 receptions, 1,824 receiving yards, and 20 receiving TD’s. To get top 25 in all three categories this season, he needs 65 receptions, 830 yards, and 4 TD’s on the year. Those numbers won’t be easy by any means, but are very doable for Bowers. Through the fist two years of his career, Bowers put up 56 receptions, 882 receiving yards, and 13 receiving TD’s as a freshman in 2021. He then put up 63 receptions, 942 receiving yards, and 7 receiving TD’s this past season in 2022.
The toughest category will likely be receptions, where Bowers would need a new career-high to jump into the top 25. He’s also in an offense loaded with other talent, especially at receiver with Ladd McConkey now being joined by transfers Dominic Lovett and Rara Thomas. However, I believe that those are all doable numbers for Bowers if he has another season on-par with what he’s done through the first two seasons of his career.
Ending up top 25 in all three categories as a three-year tight end would be insane to think about, especially when you consider the players he would be jumping. If he hits those numbers, he would be jumping the likes of Julio Jones, AJ Green, Brandon LaFell, Mike Evans, and Alshon Jeffrey in different categories. Bowers is also in striking distance of the top 15 in receiving TD’s (which he would hit with 6 of them in 2023). He could also move into a tie for 10th with 7 TD’s, and into the top 5 all-time with 10.