Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers’ friendly competition will never stop

The jeers followed Malik Nabers the day after a late-game drop.

“You suck,” Jayden Daniels told him.

The LSU teammates-turned-top-10 picks make a point of watching each other’s NFL games, and some competitive banter inevitably follows. The New York Giants’ rookie receiver allowed a fourth-quarter slant pass to slip from his grasp in their Monday night loss, giving the Washington Commanders quarterback an opening to take his latest shot over a video chat.

“He knows how to piss me off, for sure,” Nabers said, laughing, when asked about Daniels’ commentary.

Don’t worry. Nabers has had his turn to make retorts.

It might seem harsh, but the jocular commentary comes from a place of competition, respect and friendship. The powerhouse duo from LSU might have arrived in the NFL this year on separate teams — Daniels went No. 2 to Washington, and Nabers landed with New York at No. 6 — but the back-and-forth familiarity that has helped push them to their current heights was built in Baton Rouge.

“It’s just that extra motivation to make sure we are doing everything right,” Nabers said. “It’s like, ‘Get on point.’ We don’t ever want to see each other fail.”

Fortune brought the two together at LSU in 2022, at inflection points in their specific journeys. Daniels garnered significant attention as a top quarterback recruit from Southern California’s “Inland Empire” region and as a 17-year-old freshman starter at Arizona State. He arrived in the Deep South with his trademark quiet confidence just as Nabers was “coming into the alpha dog role” in the program, former LSU and current Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. Daniels came in at fourth on the initial quarterback depth chart.

There was a feeling-out process as they got to know each other as teammates and built trust. Daniels impressed Nabers with how his goal to get to the league motivated those around him to work harder. Whether it was the early-morning workouts or the extra film sessions, Nabers watched Daniels consistently act as a leader. A throwing trip to California with the receivers when Daniels first arrived at LSU strengthened their bond, transitioning the duo beyond just being teammates.

“It’s a friendship that was born, in my opinion, out of two guys who recognized themselves in the other guy,” Denbrock said. “And the competitiveness they had with one another made each one of them that much better and made the people around them better.”

Their pairing at LSU was the start of the back-and-forth egging on. Take an underthrown deep shot in practice, for example.

“I’d be like, ‘Bro, what are you doing? Like, you trippin’. Throw the ball straight,’” Nabers remembers telling Daniels. “He’d be like, ‘Well, catch the ball where I throw it to you.’”

It became their modus operandi. Constant athletic debates were sprinkled into their daily lives: Who was faster? Who could do this? Who could do that?

“It was pretty good-natured fun,” Denbrock said. “I think underneath it, you could always tell that both of them are so highly competitive that while they were joking about it with each other, they were serious about it at the same time. They actually believed it.”

As LSU recruiting specialist Sherman Wilson said: “It’s like those old (Michael) Jordan (and Mia Hamm) commercials: Anything you can do, I can do better. That’s pretty much their relationship. To challenge, to one-up each other.”

Despite their different personalities, when Daniels and Nabers found their overachiever doppelganger, it “created energy that allowed them to grow,” Wilson said.

“I’m for sure more calm than him,” Daniels said of the extroverted Nabers. “But on the field, I think we both have a common goal: Go out there and win, by any means necessary. That’s the main thing. I guess that’s why we jell so much.”

When the 2023 LSU season kicked off, the two performed in perfect harmony.

“Jayden could make throws other guys couldn’t catch,” Wilson said, “but Malik could because of their offseason work together.”

Their goals became close to reality. Nabers finished his college career as the Tigers’ all-time leader in receptions (189) and receiving yards (3,003). However, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. edged him out for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top wide receiver. Daniels ran away with the Heisman Trophy after throwing 40 touchdown passes, scoring 50 touchdowns and averaging 412.2 total yards per game, while also setting an FBS passer-rating record (208.01).

They became a “little bit of an unstoppable duo,” Denbrock said.

Those impressive resumes had scouts enthralled. After two years of making history together in the South, the two began suiting up for opposite teams in the NFC East.

In Week 2, they met for the first time on an NFL field. Nabers was arguably the game’s best player, dominating Washington’s secondary with 10 receptions for 127 yards and one touchdown. The Commanders didn’t find the end zone all game, but Daniels led them to points on every drive for a 21-18 come-from-behind victory. The Giants have fallen to 2-6 in the weeks since and are riding a three-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Washington is chasing its first 7-2 start since 1996.

You knew this jersey swap was coming@LSUfootball | #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/BuHNJnlaWa

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 15, 2024

Entering Week 9, Daniels is second in the league with a 71.8 completion percentage for 1,736 passing yards, 11 total touchdowns (seven passing) and 424 yards on the ground. Nabers has 46 receptions for 498 yards and three touchdowns despite missing two games due to a concussion. The other LSU rookie headliner and bonded friend, Jacksonville Jaguars first-round wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., entered the week sixth in the NFL with 573 receiving yards.

“To this point, we can say we’re having OK years,” the highly understated Daniels said. “We just got to continue to build. There is nobody else I would rather have gone through this process with.”

But amid their historic seasons, the two friends continue to be sounding boards for each other with near-daily conversations.

And yeah, there’s still that “friendly” talk.

Ask them about their game day fits and who’s winning the best-dressed category with votes cast by LSU friends and, well, you won’t get a straight answer. Even their hairstyles elicit “who had it first” debates. But the exchanges always go back to where it all originated: football.

While Nabers struggled with the drop in his Monday prime-time performance, Daniels delivered a dose of heroics Sunday to starved Washington fans. He connected with Noah Brown on a game-winning Hail Mary touchdown against the Chicago Bears on Sunday despite playing with a rib injury.

“That was crazy,” Nabers told Daniels after the game. “But yeah, you’re not getting that next week.”

(Top illustration: Andy Lyons, Jonathan Bachman, Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)