LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels sat inside Raising Cane’s in Times Square shooting some promotional material when he was asked to describe the food at the chicken joint relatively new to New York City.
“Elite,” he simply said.
While the adjective may describe his feelings about the food, it was easily applicable for Daniels and the two other Heisman Trophy finalists, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix, sitting inside the fast food restaurant Friday morning.
Another word that fits the three is “transfers.”
Three of the four finalists for this year’s Heisman Trophy — Ohio State star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is the exception — are transfer players who started their college careers elsewhere, showing just how crucial the transfer portal has become in college football.
Daniels, the favorite to win this year’s award, has smashed numerous LSU records in his two seasons with the Tigers after transferring from Arizona State.
The quarterback threw for 3,812 and 40 touchdowns this season, while running for an additional 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Nix went from Auburn to Oregon, where he’s become one of the best QBs in college football.
Nix threw for 4,145 yards and 40 touchdowns while completing 77.2 percent of his passes.
“All three of us are transfers and we’ve changed schools. I think (the Heisman nomination) speaks to college football as a whole and it speaks to us,” Nix said, “how we were able to overcome what our early careers kind of told us. Now we’re here.”
The transfer portal has essentially changed the way college football has operated, with the Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes changing things even more with the way he used it to rebuild his roster before last season.
The portal opened at midnight Monday and over 1,500 players have entered it this year.
But it also represents a way for players to get a fresh start.
There may not be a better example of that than Penix, who led Washington to a Pac-12 title and a spot in this year’s College Football Playoff.
Penix had to overcome four injury-filled years at Indiana before transferring to Washington.
“I feel we’ve all been through adversity with transferring and stuff like that,” Penix said, referring to himself and the two fellow Heisman finalists sitting next to him. “Just trying to find a new home and seeing it work out for each one of us is an amazing experience. I wouldn’t give up this experience for anything else, so I’m just super blessed to be here and super excited for this whole weekend.”
The three were trying to keep an even tone Friday ahead of Saturday’s Heisman ceremony at the Lincoln Center. The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN.
Nevertheless, the expectation from Daniels, Penix and Nix when they transferred was always that they would find themselves in the position they occupy.
“When I entered the portal, obviously I wanted to look for schools that I was going to be able to compete and that’s the opportunity LSU presented me,” Daniels said. “When I went up there, the guys they had around me, the coaching staff and just opportunity to go out there and be in a position like this. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
