The hated jayhawks finally return to Columbia this fall and bring their talented, experienced quarterback in Jalon Daniels. How will he match up with Mizzou?
This summer leading up to the 2025 season, we’ll be exploring the top 10 offensive and defensive players Mizzou football is slated to face this fall. We’re not ranking them 1-10, so while Jalon Daniels is a very good player, he’s not necessarily the best offensive player Corey Batoon will have to game plan for this upcoming season. He’s just one of the first two we examine. First up on the alphabetical docket: the deplorable, but very capable Jalon Daniels.
Jalon Daniels
School: kansas
Position: QB
Class: Sixth-year senior
Height: 6-0
Weight: 220 lbs.
Hometown: Lawndale, Calif.
What he’s done
Coach Lance Leipold has done yeoman’s work to raise the kansas football program from where the belong (in the depths of despair) to where they currently sit as a borderline competent team. None of their recent (relative) success, however, could not have been accomplished without star quarterback Jalon Daniels, who is quickly reaching Todd Reesing levels of historical kansas greatness.
To say he’s an experienced signal caller for the jayhawks is greatly understating the amount of time Daniels has spent on the field in blue and red. His career began in 2020, where he played in seven games as a true freshman. He earned the starting role halfway through 2021 and has yet to relinquish it five years later. Hampered by injuries throughout his career, especially in 2023 when he missed most of the season with a back injury, Daniels has still managed to put up impressive numbers. He has passed for 6,751 yards and 45 TDs/24 INTs while also rushing for 1,047 yards and 19 TDs.
Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
What he’ll do
Daniels did see a downturn in his efficiency last year, throwing for 14 TDs and 12 interceptions, but expect him to bounce back in his sixth and final year in 2025. Last season came with a lot of adjustments for the jayhawks as they had to replace their offensive coordinator who helped them win nine games in 2023. That adjustment process was slow and saw kansas stumble to a 1-5 start. They finally were able to adjust to the new play caller and finished the season winning four of their last six games, including upset wins over #6 BYU and #16 Colorado.
In 2025, I expect we’ll see more of the second half kansas than the first half kansas. They do have a few pieces to replace on offense, including stud running back Devin Neal, who will play on Sundays next season, as well as two all-conference offensive linemen. The loss of Neal will mean the offense will have to lean even more heavily on Daniels, both his arm and his legs, which means I expect his numbers to improve over last year.
Mizzou matchup
In recent years, the Mizzou defense has struggled against two things: Breakdowns in the deep secondary leading to explosive passing plays, and mobile quarterbacks extending plays with their legs. Thankfully, Daniels and the kansas offense aren’t very explosive downfield on passing plays, as he averaged only 8.2 yards per completion last season. What Daniels can do, however, is extend plays with his legs a la another Daniels the Tigers played 2023 (who went on to win the Heisman.)
Thankfully, Jalon doesn’t have the same NFL-caliber weapons to throw to that Jayden did in that 2023 LSU game, but Jalon is more than capable of eluding would-be sackers and extending drives with his legs. On the flip side, Daniels has been known to hold on to the ball too long in an effort to find receivers downfield. The Tigers need to take advantage of that fact by bottling him up in the pocket until they can track him down for sacks. If they keep him in the pocket and control the running game, Mizzou should be able to limit the kansas offense enough to win the game in Columbia.
Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images
Nikhai Hill-Green
School: Alabama
Position: LB
Class: Sixth-year senior
Height: 6-2
Weight: 230 lbs.
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
What he’s done
If the name Nikhai Hill-Green seems familiar to you at all, that means you are a true Mizzou football sicko. Last spring, Hill-Green visited Columbia upon his second entrance into the transfer portal. It seemed like Mizzou was on track to gain the commitment of the talented linebacker until Colorado swooped in with a larger NIL package and earned his services. Hill-Green spent one season in Boulder before entering the portal for the third time. He started his career at Michigan, before transferring to Charlotte, then Colorado before finally landing in his final collegiate destination of Alabama.
Hill-Green played well at Colorado in his one season, gathering 82 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions for the Buffaloes. He played well enough to gain the interest of Alabama, who was looking to replace a first-round draft pick linebacker in Jihaad Campbell. Over his whole career, Hill-Green has 205 tackles, four sacks and two picks and looks to slot in well for the Crimson Tide.
Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images
What he’ll do
NFL-caliber linebackers grow on trees in Tuscaloosa, and I expect Nikhai Hill-Green to be the next in line to hear his name called in the NFL draft next spring. He will slot in nicely right next to another NFL-caliber linebacker in Deontae Lawson (remember that name because it’ll appear again in this series a bit later in the summer.) Hill-Green isn’t a super havoc-y player (he only has four sacks in four years), but he is great at stuffing holes in the run game and cleaning up the mess downfield if the ball gets passed the line of scrimmage.
Playing behind what is sure to be yet another dominant Alabama defensive line should be a boon for Hill-Green’s tackle numbers. He’ll have to worry less about guards making it to the second level to block him, which means he’ll stay clean to make tackle after tackle in the run game. His previous career high was 82 tackles last season and I expect that to be broken in 2025.
Mizzou matchup
Against Alabama this time around, the Tigers offense is going to have to do something they failed miserably at trying last year: block the imposing Crimson Tide front seven. That is easier said then done with the Tigers replacing three offensive linemen and bringing in a new quarterback to face one of the most talented units in the country. Nikhai Hill-Green is just one piece of the puzzle that is moving the ball on Alabama, but he’s an important one.
If the Tigers offensive line can climb to the second level quick enough to get hands on Hill-Green they might have a chance to move the ball on the ground some against Alabama. It’s unlikely they will be able to pass protect for long, so running the ball will be vital to give the Tigers a chance in that game, it starts with blocking Hill-Green and the rest of the Alabama front.