Unfounded Concerns: The Strange Controversy Surrounding Jayden Daniels’ Elbow in an NFL Draft Photo
However, as attention on the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner (as well as his LSU colleagues) in the draft grows, a strange picture has surfaced again that, for some reason, everyone missed the first time.
In the previous college football season, it shows Daniels in a throwing action during a game versus Alabama in early November. However, something about the image doesn’t seem quite right—Daniels’ elbow on his throwing arm doesn’t appear to be where you would expect it to be.
The reason for the original craze seems to be because NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport used this image to discuss Daniels’ impending individual draft meetings with teams:
Alright, let us examine this thoroughly before drawing any hasty conclusions. Although Daniel’s elbow certainly appears strange in this particular picture, the strange lighting and camera angle may be to blame.
It is true that the camera can fool our eyes convincingly if we are not vigilant. Doctors on Twitter may have also been fast to diagnose Daniel’s elbow ailment, but that doesn’t imply a medical problem exists. That conversation is just speculation without a good hands-on diagnostic (again, cameras are odd).
It’s also important to remember that nobody who played for LSU or was affiliated with the school ever claimed to have seen anything “off” with Daniels’ elbow. It so happens that a photo with a bad camera perspective was shared by one of the most prominent NFL reporters, and it went viral on the internet right away.
Furthermore, if we really want to look at this from a larger perspective, the NFL draft crazy season is currently in full swing. People’s tendency to overlook a top quarterback prospect for a very constructed reason is an example of how excessive scrutiny may creep into player evaluations.