Chase Daniel, QB

Although Daniel lacks prototypical height, he has not come up short in his production or moxie for the Tigers. The 2007 Heisman finalist was a three-year starter in Missouri's spread offense (which he also ran in high school), completing 68.5 percent of his passes (72.9 percent in 2008) for 12,515 yards and 100 touchdowns. Though he's rarely given credit for his mobility, Daniel also ran for almost 1,000 yards during his career.

His pro grade may depend on which film teams use when grading him, as he started off his senior campaign as hot as any quarterback in the country, leading Missouri to as high as a No. 4 ranking by throwing for a staggering 15 touchdowns against only one interception. A tough outing against Oklahoma State (one touchdown, three interceptions) led to a steady decline in consistency and production as the 2008 season wore, culminating in a disappointing week of practice at the East-West Shrine Game.

No one can argue with his production, but Daniel's lack of height, arm-strength and ability to rally down the stretch could result in him falling completely out of the draft.

Positives: Gutty, competitive field general. A virtual coach on the field. Reads defenses well and checks down effectively. Good accuracy to all levels. Shows enough zip in the short to intermediate throws when given a deep pocket. Good touch to place the ball between the linebackers and safeties down the seams. More elusive than often given credit for. Can buy time in and out of the pocket and shows good accuracy on the move.

Negatives: May be too short for the NFL. Scouts believe his success in this system is greatly tied to throwing out of the shotgun -- and thereby the open passing lanes and middle underneath passes of the scheme. Seemed to provide further evidence of this theory with his struggles at the East-West Shrine game. Questionable arm strength. Has the zip to complete the short and intermediate passes, but has to wind-up for longer throws and due to his lack of height and release point, longer passes tend to sail.

Led Missouri to back-to-back Big 12 North Division titles … Holds 27 school records and was a 2007 Heisman Trophy finalist … Named a 2008 finalist for the Manning Award, Wuerffel Trophy and the Unitas Golden Arm Award, completing 331 passes for 3,880 yards and 34 touchdowns this season … Two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection … Volunteered for hospital visits and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids Sake charity.

First team All-Big 12, Offensive Player of the Year, Heisman Trophy finalist. Had arguably the single-best individual season in Tiger history, as he broke records hand over fist and helped lead Mizzou to a record 12 wins, and the school's first-ever Big 12 Conference North Division championship, a New Year's Day bowl win for the first time since 1966, a #1 ranking in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 1960 and an MU-best final A.P. ranking of #4 … Became MU's first player to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, when he earned an invitation to New York City to take part in the ceremony in Times Square, where he finished fourth overall … Threw for an MU record 4,306 yards and 33 TDs, with an outstanding passer rating of 147.89 … Ranked 7th in the NCAA in total offense (325.64 ypg) and was 15th in pass efficiency, while leading the offense to a final NCAA ranking of 5th in total offense (490.29 ypg) … Had a performance for the ages in the Big 12 North title game against rival Kansas at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, as he completed 40-of-49 passes for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns, with no interceptions in leading the Tigers to a 36-28 win … Threw for at least 300 yards in eight of 14 games and was just short in two other games (294-yards against Illinois State and 284 against Kansas State) … The Illinois State game snapped a six-game streak of 300-yards passing dating back to 2006 … Was held to 219 yards passing in the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma, as he was playing with severe flu symptoms (he had to get IVs during the day just to be able to play that night) … Was held to 136 yards passing against Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, as the Razorbacks loaded up against the prolific Tiger passing attack, but Daniel showed he would take what was given him, as he did a masterful job of directing a running game that featured a 280-yard, 4-TD record-breaking day by TB Tony Temple … Broke his career high for passing yards three times, initially with a 359-yard performance in the season opener against Illinois … His 37 completions and 54 attempts against the Illini ranked second all-time at Missouri … Threw for 330 yards against Ole Miss and tied his own school record with five touchdown passes … Set an MU record by throwing for four touchdowns in one quarter, with four scoring passes in the second quarter against Ole Miss … In that quarter, Daniel was 12-of-17 for 177 yards and a QB rating of 235.7 … Completed 27-of-46 for 328 yards and two TDs against Western Michigan … Had a career-long 39-yard rush that took the ball to the one-yard line and later added a 36-yard touchdown run … Had a string of 254 passes without an interception snapped in the second quarter against WMU … The 254 passes without an INT set a Big 12 record and was just 17 passes shy of the NCAA record … Connected on a 57-yard TD pass with Will Franklin on the first play of the game against Illinois State … Went over the 5,000-yards passing mark against Illinois State … Torched Nebraska for a then-career-high 401 yards passing and four total scores (two rushing) on 33-of-47 passing without a turnover … Led the club in rushing with 72 yards on 11 carries, including the two rushing TDs … Performance ranks second on Mizzou's single-game total offense list with 473 total yards, just seven yards behind Brad Smith (480 yards vs. Nebraska in 2005) … Those 401 yards throwing were the fourth-highest total in school history … Named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for his career-high effort and earned AT&T National POW honors … Was 37-of-47 for 361 yards and one TD against Oklahoma … The 361 yards put him over 2,000 for the year … Threw just 19 passes against Texas Tech (completing 14) … Was 28-of-37 for 250 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State … Again set a new career-high with 421 yards passing against Colorado, including seven passes of 23 yards or longer … Threw for five touchdowns (for the third time in his career) against the Buffaloes … Had a QB ranking of 172.42 against CU and was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for that performance … Completed 27-of- 35 passes for 352 yards and three TDs against Texas A&M … Had an 82-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin, the longest play of the year for the Tigers and the longest pass play of Daniel's career … Had a career-high 189.91 QB rating against TAMU, completing 77.1% of his passes (27-of-35) … Led Mizzou to its first win at Kansas State since 1989, when he threw four TDs, compiling 284 yards on 28-of-41 passing … Longest pass of the day came on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Maclin, as Daniel scrambled to his left and found Maclin wide open in the endzone … Daniel's four TDs gave him 59 for his career, breaking Brad Smith's record of 56 … Rushed 11 times for 26 yards against Oklahoma and scored the Tigers' only TD of the game on a four-yard run … His 33 touchdown passes was a new school record, breaking his own mark of 28.

2nd team All-Big 12 in '06. First-year starter who had the unenviable task of replacing legendary record-setting QB Brad Smith, and promptly attained legendary status of his own, setting numerous passing records on his own, and helped lead the Tigers to 8 regular-season wins for just the 10th time in school history … Shattered MU single-season records for passing yards (3,527 - old mark was 2,436 by Jeff Handy in 1992), and passing TDs (28 - old mark was 18 by Terry McMillan in 1969), among many other records … Also broke Smith's season record for TDs responsible for, with 32, and total offense, with a record 3,906 yards of offense - his per-game average of 300.5 ranked 5th in the NCAA, the highest a Tiger has rated in that category since Bob Steuber was 3rd in the nation in total offense in 1942 … Named 2nd-Team All-Big 12 quarterback by league coaches, and twice won the Big 12's weekly offensive player of the week, after huge outings in the regular season opener against Murray State (320 yards, MU game-record 5 TDs), and in the regular-season finale against Kansas (356 yards, 4 TDs) … Is also an outstanding student who was named 1st-Team Academic All-District by ESPN The Magazine and 1st-Team Academic All-Big 12 … Season pass efficiency rating of 145.06 ranked 22nd in the NCAA, and was the 2nd-best in MU single season history (154.3 by Phil Johnson in 1990 is the record), and his career mark of 139.40 is currently the best in MU history … Had 11 200-yard passing games on the year, which broke the old mark of 8 held by Kent Kiefer in 1990 … Closed the season in prolific fashion, as he threw for 996 yards, 7 TDs, zero INTs and had a QB rating of 160.15 in the last 3 games (Iowa State, Kansas, Oregon State) … Was dynamic in MU's heartbreaking bowl loss to Oregon State, as he threw for an MU bowl-record 330 yards and 2 TDs on just 16 completions (an eye-popping 20.6 yards per completion) … Closed the regular season by dissecting the Kansas defense for a career-high 356 passing yards and 4 TDs on 26-of-38 passing, including a career-long 74-yarder to WR Jared Perry … Also had a 76-yard TD pass called back on a silly personal foul penalty that took place 20 yards behind the play … Made quite a splash in his first career start, as he tossed a school record 5 TD passes against Murray State in the opener, including his first career 300-yard passing day (320 yards) … Had a big day, in leading MU to a win over Ole Miss in game #2, as he registered 332 yards of total offense, including 243 passing yards (1 TD) and a career-high 89 rushing yards (1 TD) … Accumulated 300 yards of offense in 8-of-13 games on the season, including a career-best 395 against Kansas … Tossed 4 TDs in his Big 12-opener against Colorado … The Kansas game was the 4th game he had at least 4 TD passes, (was already the first player in MU history to throw for 4 TDs in a game more than once) … Threw for at least 250 yards in 10-of-13 games … Was held without a TD pass for the only time against Oklahoma … Was also the team's No. 2 rusher with 379 yards and 4 rushing TDs, with his 4th coming against Oklahoma, as he ran for 75 yards on a career-high 20 carries … Threw for 310 yards against Iowa State, and scored what would have been the game-winning TD on a keeper on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yardline with just 25 seconds left, but the TD was taken away by a holding call that the Big 12 Conference later confirmed was an incorrect call.

The 2004 EA Sports National High School Player of the Year who won the backup job in fall camp, despite his true freshman status … Saw action in 10 games, as Tiger coaches tried to give him a series or two in most games to prepare him for the future … Completed nearly 60% of his passes, going 38-of-66 for 347 yards and 1 TD, with 2 INTs … Also rushed 39 times for 57 yards and 1 TD … Did more than just prepare for next season against Iowa State, as he relieved an injured Brad Smith in the 4th quarter of the Iowa State game, and rallied Mizzou from a 10-point deficit with just 8 minutes left, as the Tigers won in overtime, 27-24.

Entered the ISU game on a 3rd-and-10 situation on his own 25 yardline with just under 9 minutes left in the game, and MU trailing, 24-14 … Calmly hit WR Brad Ekwerekwu for 13 yards to keep the drive alive, and later connected with fellow true freshman TE Chase Coffman for 25 yards on a 4th-and-7 to keep the chains moving … Led Tigers to a FG on that drive, and after a defensive stop, led MU on an 11-play, 87-yard drive for the tying score that came on a 4-yard TD pass to WR Sean Coffey with just 20 seconds left … In OT, after ISU missed a long FG try, Daniel guided the Tigers down to the 9-yardline, and the winning Adam Crossett field goal.

Ended the game 16-of-23 passing for 185 yards and the 1 TD … Saw action in 2 series in the bowl game against South Carolina, and converted on a 4th down keeper in the 3rd quarter to help keep a long MU drive alive … Played in every game except against New Mexico and Baylor … Scored the 1st TD of his collegiate career in game #3 against Troy, on a 1-yard plunge in the 4th quarter.

Daniel came to MU after being named the 2004 EA Sports National High School Player of the Year on the strength of impressive team and individual accomplishments … Led his Southlake Carroll team to a perfect 16-0 record in 2004 and a Class 5A state championship, in addition to a No. 1 national ranking and mythical national championship by numerous publications, including USA Today and Student Sports Magazine … Played wideout as a sophomore and was part of another state championship squad that went 16-0, and was the quarterback on the freshman team in 2001 that went 9-1 for a four-year record at Southlake of 56-2, including 47-1 on the varsity … Two-year varsity quarterback stats included 11,252 total yards and 127 TDs, as he completed 529-of-811 passes for 8,298 yards and 91 TDs and added 2,954 rushing yards and 39 TDs … Was a two-time state Class 5A player of the year, winning the award in each of his last two years … Senior season statistics included 6,042 yards of total offense and 70 total TDs … As a senior, completed 298-of-461 passes for 4,617 yards and 49 TDs with only 14 interceptions, while he also ran 248 times for 1,425 yards and 21 more TDs … Drove his team 49 yards in the state championship game to set up a game-winning field goal as time expired to keep the perfect season alive … Ended the title game with 295 yards passing and one TD and 84 yards rushing … Was outstanding on a rare national television appearance for the high school ranks, when he led his team to a 52-27 win in October over rival Denton Ryan that was shown on ESPN2 … Threw for three TDs in the game and ran for two more as he had 351 yards passing and 98 running on the night … As a junior, threw for 3,681 yards and 42 TDs while rushing for 1,529 yards and 18 TDs in leading Carroll to a 15-1 record and 5A runner-up showing … More honors include: EA Sports 1st-Team All-American (multipurpose) in 2004; Parade All-American in 2004; 1st-Team all-state in 2003 and 2004; 1st-Team all-district and all-area in 2003 and 2004, among many others … Won second-teamTeam all-district honors as a wide receiver in 2002, as he caught 53 passes for 675 yards … An outstanding all-around athlete who is also a 1st-Team all-district pitcher/outfielder in baseball, and a member of his school's sprint relay team in track … High school coach - Todd Dodge, who was a standout college quarterback with the University of Texas.

Son of Bill & Vickie Daniel … Chose MU over Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Maryland, Stanford and many others … Likes to relax in his down time by playing video games … An outstanding student who was a member of National Honor Society and a member of his school's student council for multiple years … Academic interest lies in business finance.