Another top quarterback prospect has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft

The 2024 NFL Draft board is filling up. Monday started with one of the top names in this year's class officially declaring for the draft.

Via a video posted to social media, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels announced he will forgo his remaining elgibilty and enter the 2024 NFL Draft. The announcement comes on Daniels' 23rd birthday.

READ MORE:

--Patriots-Chiefs Ups & Downs
--Nine takeaways from Sunday's Patriots game
--The latest look at NFL Draft positioning

Daniels was a fastest riser up draft boards this season. After three up-and-down years as a starter at Arizona State, the four-star prospect transferred to LSU and showed promise.

Heading into the season he was projected as a Day 3 pick but took a massive step in his second season in Baton Rouge. In 12 games Daniels completed 72.2 percent of his pass attempts for 3,812 yards with 40 touchdowns and just for interceptions. On the ground he added another 1,134 yards and 10 more scores.

That performance earned Daniels a number of honors - most notably the 2023 Heisman Trophy. He's also now expected to be a top-10 pick in this year's draft.

As a passer, Daniels has a plus deep ball, good pocket presence, and can create out of structure when needed. He's a true threat with his legs, although still looks to pass first. When he does take off on a scramble or designed run he can make defenders miss in the open field and has the top speed to pull away from defensive backs.

On top of all of that, Daniels' exponential development points to a player who is a quick learner, can handle new concepts well, and understands how to improve himself. That should help with the learning curve that comes with all NFL quarterbacks.

The biggest knock on Daniels right now is his size. Listed at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, he'll need to add mass to his frame to better handle contact at the pro level. His weigh-in at the NFL Combine this year will get plenty of attention, as will his physical testing to see if he can move the same after adding to his frame.

At the same time Daniels can also be reckless as a runner, and has a tendency to take big hits he doesn't need to take, when he could slide or go out of bounds. Against bigger, faster, stronger NFL defenders he'll need to do a better job of taking care of his body.

As Daniels declares for the NFL Draft he's projected to be the third quarterback off the board behind Caleb Williams from USC (who has yet to officially declare for the draft) and Drake Maye from UNC (who declared last week). The question is, if he doesn't catch Maye during the pre-draft process, will another team fly up the board to get him? Or will he have wait to hear his name until some of the top non-quarterbacks (ex. Notre Dame OT Joe Alt, Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.) are off the board?

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For a second there, it looked like the New England Patriots were about to pull off the upset of the year, and really pick up some momentum to close their otherwise-disappointing 2023 season on a high note. Late in the second half they had a 10-7 lead on the Kansas City Chiefs, but things quickly turned form there.

Kansas City executed a textbook two-minute drill, taking a 14-10 lead at halftime. That touchdown was the first of four consecutive scoring drives for the Chiefs, who put up 20 unanswered points on their way to a 27-17 win on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

READ MORE:

--Patriots-Chiefs Ups & Downs
--Big second half leads Chiefs past Patriots
--Full Patriots coverage

It was the second week in a row the Patriots struggled in the second half. Last week against the Steelers they were blanked after the break, but still managed to hold on for the win. Against a much more explosive Chiefs team this week, that wasn't the case as the second half has suddenly become the latest boogeyman for a team that has been haunted by a number of issues throughout the season.

Between all of that, it really was a game of 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' for the Patriots. Let's go through it all in this week's takeaways...

Once again, it was a tale of two halves for Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe. After looking excellent through the first 30 minutes, he looked like a completely different player coming out of the locker room.

Zappe started Sunday's game playing as well as he ever has in his NFL career. This week's first half replaced last week's first half in that regard, as he completed 17-of-19 passes for 141 yards with an excellent throw to Hunter Henry for a play-action touchdown on 4th & 2. He looked confident and in command, and seemed to have the Patriots in position to hang with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

However, that feeling didn't last long. On the first play of the second half he tossed an interception on a play where he threw blindly up the sideline while facing pressure. From there he continued to spray the ball and was strip-sacked as well (although the Patriots recovered). Over the final 30 minutes he was 6-of-12 for 39 yards with the pick.

This issue isn't new for Zappe - he's struggled in the second half all season. It's tough to tell whether that's an issue of him getting too comfortable, losing focus, the play-calling changing, or opponents adjusting. In reality, it's probably a combination of all of those reasons.

At times on Sunday he certainly started to look sped up as he dealt with pressure from the Chiefs' defensive front. In total he was sacked four times and hit six more. After the game, Zappe told reporters there were some blitzes he struggled to identify.

Whatever the reason, Zappe needs to work through it. He's showing in the first half of these games he can lead an offense, but no team is going to give him a chance to do that full time until he proves he can do it for a full 60 minutes.

When Bailey Zappe did have it going in the first half he mainly looked towards the Patriots' two biggest targets - wide receiver DeVante Parker and tight end Hunter Henry. That duo accounted for 12 of the Patriots' 23 receptions, and 110 of the team's 180 receiving yards.

On multiple occasions, Parker used his length to create windows for Zappe to throw the ball over the middle away from defenders. He also bailed Zappe out in the second quarter, fighting back through two defenders to a ball that was short, due to Zappe throwing off his back foot under pressure.

Parker finished the game with five catches for 44 yards. His chemistry with Zappe remains apparent.

As for Henry, the Chiefs couldn't stick with him. He got open over the middle time and time again, with Zappe finding him regularly. He caught seven of his nine targets for 66 yards - both team-highs - and caught Zappe's lone touchdown. However he took a beating doing so, and left the game early due to injury. His status is one to monitor moving forwards.

In November the Patriots' rushing attack was playing as well as it had all season. Teams seem to be keying in on the run more and more now, and the results are reflecting that.

On Sunday the Patriots ran for just 3.3 yards per carry. That's their fourth-lowest total of the year, just up 0.1 yards from last week's number. The Patriots seemed to anticipate that added attention to the run game, with their 16 carries a new season-low. For the second week in a row Ezekiel Elliott handled the majority of the workload with 11 carries for 25 yards.

Of course, injuries on the offensive line didn't help the cause. Trent Brown didn't play in this game, and Cole Strange left early with a knee injury. The Chiefs won the push up front, leaving the Patriots without much room to run.

The Patriots already figured out how to reenergize their run game once this season. They'll likely need to do it again down the stretch.

One bright spot for the run game? Second-year back Kevin Harris. Harris has spent the entire season on the Patriots' practice squad. He was elevated for the first time last week following Rhamondre Steveson's ankle injury, but didn't play. This week not only did he get into the game, but on his second carry of the year ran 18 yards for a touchdown on a day rushing yards were tough to come by. That's a testament to his ability to stay ready, even when not in the game plan. Outside of Harris' touchdown run, the Patriots averaged 2.67 yards per carry.

While it may have been a longshot, the Patriots did have a chance to win this game late. After Harris' touchdown and a stop by the defense the Patriots got the ball back - although with 99 yards to go after a strong punt - down 10 with 4:00 left on the clock and one timeout left.

Realistically the Patriots could have tried to push the ball, then onside kicked to set up a game-tying score. Instead they ran the ball on the first two plays, huddling up in between each. Four minutes remaining quickly ticked down to 2:39, when the Patriots turned the ball over on downs.

Despite that the Patriots got the ball back as the Chiefs made the unusual decision to kneel on fourth down, giving the ball back to New England with 35 seconds to play. Again, the Patriots sat on the ball, running one play to kill the clock.

After the game, Bill Belichick cited injuries on the offensive line as the main reason the team wasn't more aggressive in the fourth quarter. "At that point we had lost three starters. Worried about the pass protection. Worried about being able to execute in that situation," he said, referencing an earlier drive when the Patriots punted on a 4th & 3 from their own 42 with 14:50 to go in a then-17-point game. It stands to reason that logic would carry over to the later fourth quarter drives as well.

Even so, it's not the first time the Patriots have been overly-conservative in the fourth quarter of a close game this year. They did so in the fourth quarter of a tied game against the Giants as well.

That approach is being noticed by the players. After the game Ezekiel Elliott said he would have like to see the team play with more tempo in the second half, before adding "that’s not up to me.”

On to the defense, where it was another strong game for the Patriots' defensive front. They held the Chiefs to just 2.2 yards per carry, and did a relatively good job containing Patrick Mahomes.

That effort was led by Christian Barmore, the third-year defensive tackle who continues to run away as the team MVP for the year. Barmore hit Mahomes twice, and picked up a sack. He also had the pressure that led to the interception from rookie Marte Mapu - the first of his career. That interception notably came with Mapu playing at the second level. A linebacker in college, the Patriots have mainly played Mapu at safety to this point, but got results when moving him up into the box. We'll look to see if he gets more chances in that role down the stretch.

The other player that stood out from the front in this game was linebacker Mack Wilson. Wilson had a sack, as well as a pass breakup. Now in his second year in the Patriots' system he's starting to show his true sideline-so-sideline ability, which has helped the Patriots tremendously against adlib quarterbacks like Mahomes.

Coming into this game it seemed pretty clear that the Patriots were going to try their best to lock down tight end Travis Kelce, and force Patrick Mahomes to win throwing the ball elsewhere. The first part worked - Kelce was limited to just five catches for 28 yards, with his 5.6 yards per catch being his second-lowest of the season. He also dropped a touchdown with closing contact from Kyle Dugger.

However, the team got beat elsewhere. In particular rookie Rashee Rice continued his emergence as Mahomes' new top secondary target. A second-round pick out of SMU, Rice caught all nine of his targets for 91 yards and a score. He led all players in the game in both receptions and receiving yards.

It's been a year of mysterious personnel moves for the Patriots, with the latest coming on Sunday. Despite not appearing on the injury report and being active for the game, cornerback J.C. Jackson did not play. He was not on the sideline for most of the game, and may not have been on the field for warm-ups (which happen after inactives are released).

After the game, Bill Belichick confirmed Jackson "wasn't available" but didn't get into any detail beyond that. Rookie Alex Austin, who was signed by the team in early November, told reporters after the game he found out he'd be starting in Jackson's place prior to the game.

It was a mixed performance by Austin in relief. He had a couple of good coverage plays on Rice, but was called for two costly penalties including a hold that wiped out a second half Jabrill Peppers fumble recovery.

As for Jackson, his play has slipped in recent weeks prior to his benching. Given there is no guaranteed money on his contract behind this year, his long-term status with the team is worth monitoring.

Yes, we have a positive special teams takeaway this week! That goes to returner Jalen Reagor, who took over the role after Ty Montgomery was cut this week. Reagor was credited with a 40-yard kick return, and had another 46-yard return on the opening kickoff wiped out by a penalty (we'll get to that).

Overall, the Patriots have had one of the worst kickoff return units to this point in the season. It was nice to see Reagor give them a spark, and he should return to that role again next week.

Jalen Reagor's returns were two good plays, but it was hardly a perfect special teams day for the Patriots. Brenden Schooler committed his fifth penalty of the year on the opening kickoff, and now has more penalties on his own than the entire rosters of the Eagles (3) and Chargers (4).

Rookie Chad Ryland missed another field goal, this time from 41 yards. He was 1-for-2 on the game. There was also another near punt block, but Bryce Baringer managed to get the ball off.

Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.