LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas redshirt junior quarterback Jalon Daniels has been announced as one of 12 semifinalists for the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year Award.
The award semifinalists were announced Tuesday by College Sports Communicators, in association with The Associated Press and the Fiesta Bowl Organization.
Daniels, who was limited to three games by injury during the 2023 season, returned in a big way this season. Named a team captain before the season, Daniels started all 12 games for the Jayhawks and completed 171-of-300 (57.0 percent) passes for 2,454 yards and 14 touchdowns. His yardage mark is No. 7 in school history for a single season, while his 14 touchdown passes tied for 10th.
Daniels threw for more than 200 yards five times, with a season-high 295 yards in Kansas’ 45-36 win over No. 16 Iowa State on Nov. 9. Daniels also had four games with multiple touchdown passes, including three in KU’s 42-14 win over Houston on Oct. 19. Daniels finished the season as KU’s second-leading rusher, running for 447 yards and six touchdowns on 93 carries.
For his career, Daniels has appeared in 37 games for the Jayhawks, moving to No. 2 in career passing yards (6,751) and touchdown passes (45) during the 2024 season. He also holds the program’s single-game record for passing yards, throwing for 544 in the 2022 AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Since 2018, the Comeback Player of the Year Award has recognized college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness or other circumstances. At the conclusion of each season, in a vote by a panel of college football writers, editors, and sports information directors, three college football student-athletes are honored as Comeback Player of the Year Award winners at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.