When the transfer portal became the new fad in college football, it completely revolutionized the sport. Guys like quarterback Jayden Daniels, who transferred from Arizona State, could quickly transform a team in just a mere season. Well, Daniels has held his part for the LSU football team since transferring last year. It's some of the other LSU transfers that haven't done their part, thus leaving Daniels out of most Heisman Trophy discussions.

LSU football's defense and lack of wins will cost Jayden Daniels

LSU brought in 10 defensive transfers this year, with four of those being cornerbacks. At SEC Media Days earlier in the year, Josh Pate discussed with LSU football head coach Brian Kelly about those transfers and how it was a concern to bring in that many from the portal in hopes of rebuilding his defense. The school, often known as DBU, at times has one of the worst passing defenses in the country. They rank 116th in yards per pass (8.6), 108th in passes per game (35.6), and 127th in passing yards per game (307.8), all the while ranked 124th in overall yards per game (470.8) and 117th in points per game (36.8).

Yet, somehow, LSU is still ranked at No. 22 with two losses — one against Florida State and the other against Ole Miss — after barely hanging on against Missouri, 49-39, when, of all things, a pick-6 by the Bayou Bengals sealed the deal. But who was responsible for most of the other 42 points was their starting quarterback, Daniels.

Jayden Daniels deserves to be in the Heisman Trophy discussion

Daniels was 15-for-21 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 12.3 per pass against Missouri. He also ran 15 times for 130 yards for another touchdown, meaning he accounted for over 70 percent of LSU's offense. This wasn't just one game that Daniels has done this, though. This is every week.

In six games this season, he's only thrown under 260 yards once (by one yard), only thrown under a 60-percent completion percentage once (59.5), and thrown two picks all season. He's thrown for 1,969 yards, 19 touchdowns, and ran for 422 yards and four touchdowns.

The Heisman Trophy award winner is something that causes, at times, much debate like the rest of the sport of college football. Who's really deserving of the award? Sometimes, it's clear as day who should be the winner, with an example being last year's winner, USC's quarterback Caleb Williams. But then there are years like this one where what once was a scarce source of parity now seems in abundance. And that obviously just isn't in the form of teams but in players, too, especially the quarterback position, which produces a large majority of Heisman candidates.

Don't overlook the SEC's best quarterback

The trophy seems to be hovering in and around the Pacific Coast as of now, keeping an intense gaze at guys like last year's winner Williams again but also Oregon's Bo Nix and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. But as usual, the SEC should have a say in this one like they do in the rest of the conversations in college football.

Daniels shouldn't be overlooked, especially if LSU continues winning, keeping them relevant within the SEC West. LSU still has some pivotal games left on their schedule, including Auburn, Florida, and Texas A&M at home, and the biggest one of them all potentially against Alabama on the road at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Though Daniels can't play defense, if he can somehow keep LSU at just two losses, and even more so, somehow beat Alabama on the road, there's no reason not to have him deep in Heisman discussions.

Because you have to consider that in some form or fashion, Oregon, Washington, and USC and their talented quarterbacks are all going to lose at some point because they all play one another. Granted, one of them could run the table on all the others, but losses, although they shouldn't, seem to matter more in the Pac-12 than they do in the SEC.

Barring injury or decreasing production, Daniels should be heavily considered. If indeed the Heisman is the MVP award of college football, then there's no more valuable player to a roster right now than Daniels is to LSU football.