The college football season begins on Sept. 2 for 12 of the 13 FBS teams in the state of Texas. The lone exception in the Lone Star State is UTEP, which face Jacksonville State in Week 0 to begin Conference USA play. 

As we approach the start of another season, we’ll countdown the 50-most important players in college football. We’ll go one-by-one until Sept. 1 as we enter the top 20. 

Previous rankings: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21

The college football season begins on Sept. 2 for 12 of the 13 FBS teams in the state of Texas. The lone exception in the Lone Star State is UTEP, which face Jacksonville State in Week 0 to begin Conference USA play. 

As we approach the start of another season, we’ll countdown the 50-most important players in college football. We’ll go one-by-one until Sept. 1 as we enter the top 20. 

NO. 12 RICE QB JT DANIELS 

The History 

Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren began recruiting Daniels nearly a decade ago while the offensive coordinator at Stanford. Daniels was a hot shot prospect at famed Mater Dei High School in California, eventually earning five-star status and Gatorade state Player of the Year as a sophomore and a junior.  

Daniels and Bloomgren took an interesting route to reunite. Daniels began his at career at USC a year early in 2018 after reclassifying and skipping his senior season. He became the second true freshman to start the opener at quarterback in a Week 1 win over UNLV. He redshirted in 2019 due to a season-ending knee injury and then transferred to Georgia where he started four games in 2020 and three in 2021 before transferring to West Virginia for the 2022 season. Daniels started 10 times last year for the Mountaineers, throwing for 2,107 yards and 13 touchdowns. 

The Importance 

No team in the FBS has started more quarterbacks over the last five seasons than Rice. Injuries and inconsistency grounded the Owls over the Bloomgren era. The head man finally nabbed the quarterbacks of his dreams and that should unlock a surprisingly talented Rice offense. Daniels won’t lack weapons on the outside even with the loss of Bradley Rozner to the transfer portal. Modern football is one with consistent quarterback play and Daniels can provide that in the American Athletic Conference. He doesn’t need to be a five-star talent with NFL aspirations. He just needs to be a leader and contributing factor to Rice success in 2023. 

The Outlook  

The connection between Daniels and star wide receiver Luke McCaffrey will prove critical for Rice’s offensive success. Other wide receivers such as Tyson Thompson and Kobie Campbell are potential breakout players with Rozner and Cedric Patterson III no longer in the fold. Tight ends Jack Bradley and Boden Groen provide safety blankets. The staff is excited about the receiving ability of Groen. Rice’s offense, at least through the air, should take a giant leap forward in the 2023 season if Daniels is half as good as the hype. 

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