Ex-USC Football starting QB picks odd G5 school for fourth transfer

Former starting USC Football Quarterback JT Daniels has transferred to Rice, as his fourth new school in what will be his sixth year of college football. It's confusing as to how he can transfer to Rice with immediate eligibility despite it being his third transfer, but he has found a way. Rice is a Group of Five Conference school that plays in the Conference USA conference.

Rice went 5-7 this year, and just lost their bowl game two Saturdays ago (LendingTree Bowl against Southern Mississippi) to drop to 5-8 on the year. SC beat Rice 66-14 in the first game of the season this year, so Trojan fans have seen Rice recently. Daniels will easily start at the program, though, so he at least has that going for him.

He could have landed at Power 5 programs as well, as Daniels is not a bad quarterback. He has 46 total touchdowns (45 passing) and 25 interceptions in his college career (31 games). He has started a high majority of those games as well, and even won a Peach Bowl as the starting QB for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2020 season.

Georgia was undefeated in Daniels' four starts with him that season, and finished seventh in the final AP Poll after he came in and saved the day for them after he was out for the first six outings of the year with an injury.

Daniels began the next year there as the starter, and won every game he started (three games) until he went down with an injury and Georgia just decided to keep playing the backup QB when he came back, because he was undefeated too.

JT Daniels had a bad 2022, but he was also playing for former disappointing USC Football OC Graham Harrell at West Virginia.

JT Daniels played well in his one half of football with Harrell with the USC Football program in 2019, but again, it was only one half (the first half of the first game of the season), because he went down with an injury just before halftime and missed the rest of the season. He played poorly with Harrell in his first full season with him in 2022; completing just 61.2% of his passes at a 6.4 yards per pass attempt rate.

He was benched towards the end of the season, as he only completed six adjusted yards per pass attempt. It's been an uphill battle for Daniels, as he attempts to come back strong after significant injuries at USC and Georgia.

It's tough, because the five-star QB out of the 2018 recruiting class had high expectations as the No. 2 Pro-Style QB in the country (all recruiting rankings and ratings in article are as of 247Sports). Unfortunately, however, injuries have prevented him from being able to fulfill that potential. It's why regardless of whether he makes it to the NFL or not, he'll most certainly not go down as a bust.

He's had little shot to make it with the injuries he's faced. Not to mention, it's not like being coached by Tee Martin, Clay Helton, and Graham Harrell helps. The reality is; nobody ever loses talent. Daniels was the Gatorade Player of the Year for a reason at Mater Dei. He still has a high ceiling, and there will be many Trojan fans rooting for him in 2023 and beyond.