Florida State coaches knew they had to take a transfer quarterback because they couldn’t go into the 2026 season with only Kevin Sperry and freshman signee Jaden O’Neal as the only two scholarship quarterbacks.
O’Neal suffered an injury and won’t play in 2026(he was probably going to redshirt anyway), but that further emphasized the need to add depth and experience. FSU toyed with some options and ultimately settled on Auburn’s backup QB, Ashton Daniels. Daniels was a starter at Stanford for two years before that, with mixed results.
He honestly reminded me of a young Jordan Travis, someone who isn’t a great passer, but can do damage with his legs. If we check their stats, they’re fairly similar when looking at Jordan Travis in 2020-21.
I remember writing about Jordan Travis potentially taking a leap similar to Lamar Jackson from his freshman season. Folks thought I was crazy, but I could see the trend in Jordan Travis improved passing over the final few games in 2021. He went on to become a quarterback who was a legitmate Heisman contender.
Travis ran for a ton of yards and completed less than 60 percent of his passes. Daniels did the same, but had a knack for throwing more interceptions. However, that’s something he focused on at Auburn last season.
Travis rushed 231 times for 1,089 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2020-21. Daniels rushed 257 times for 961 yards and six touchdowns in 2023-24. Travis was more of a willing runner back then, and Daniels showed he’s not afraid to run it while at Auburn last season. He rushed 63 times in only four games for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
Ashton Daniels is closer to a young Jordan Travis than most realize and it's probably why FSU settled on him to save money
The biggest question mark is whether Daniels can make improvements as a passer, similar to how Jordan Travis did between 2021 and 2022?
Daniels gets the ball out quickly. He can throw slant routes, out routes, and checkdowns. He said he worked on knowing where to go with the ball and avoiding turnovers last year in limited time.
Will he take the shots downfield like Jordan Travis on post routes? Can he complete those at a high enough rate to keep defenses honest? I know FSU fans aren’t happy with FSU settling on Daniels, but there are more similarities to Jordan Travis than many realize. Daniels will do damage with his legs.
It’s all a matter of whether he can get comfortable enough in the offense to improve his completion percentage and avoid turnovers to capture some of the magic Jordan Travis had at FSU.