JT Daniels Mike Griffith Georgia football Paul Finebaum

ATHENS — SEC Network host Paul Finebaum has heard all the doubts where JT Daniels is concerned, but that doesn’t change his opinion about the Georgia quarterback.

“I understand the criticism,” Finebaum told DawgNation.com “I had a coach hit me up the other day and ask why am I so high on JT Daniels? What else has he done? Who else did he play other than Cincinnati? And that’s fair.

“But we’re talking about someone who I think is one fo the best quarterbacks in the country.”

The numbers would seem to back that up.

PFF noted that Daniels had the highest passer rating against the blitz (141.8) of any returning quarterback.

Daniels also had the highest passer rating of any of the returning quarterbacks from games played Nov. 21 on, when he appeared in his first game for the Bulldogs.

“He just has the ‘it’ factor, and to be a great quarterback, you have to have that,” said Finebaum, who hosts a daily talk show featuring SEC athletics and special guests each weekday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m..

“I’m not going to spend a lot of time on Matt Corral or Bryce Young, I have no earthly idea if Bryce Young is going to be a great quarterback.”

Finebaum said he’s not ready to buy into the second-year Alabama quarterback who will replace Mac Jones.

Young, it’s worth noting, followed Daniels at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., and like Daniels led the Monarchs to a high school national championship.

Finebaum said that’s not enough for the lofty comparisons he’s hearing about Young, versus what he’s already seen from Daniels.

“I had a caller the other day say (Young) is going to be better than Tua Tagovailoa, and I was like, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ " Finebaum said. “We’re talking about one of the greatest quarterbacks in SEC history. He (Young) may be good. Good for him.

“But JT Daniels, I don’t even think it’s a question. I don’t think its debatable — he’s the best quarterback in the SEC.”

This will only be Daniels’ second season at Georgia, but he started and played his entire true freshman season at USC before suffering a knee injury in the first half of the first game of the 2019 season.

“Daniels is experienced, too, this is not someone who’s just rolling out of bed,” Finebaum said. “He’s got a lot of experience, he’s had a lot of hard knocks, and he’s in a really good place with a lot around him. He’s not going to be by himself in the backfield.”

Editors Note: Paul Finebaum will appear on the Ingles On The Beat Show with Mike Griffith at 8 p.m. on Monday night on the DawgNation YouTube Channel and the DawgNation Facebook Page.