The face of college football is ever-changing.
While stalwart staples such as Alabama's Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr., Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Tennessee's Hendon Hooker, Illinois' Chase Brown and USC's Caleb Williams continue to produce, they have been joined this year by a new crop of breakout stars.
In some cases, these guys parlayed a change of scenery into some big-time production. In others, a switch of coaching staffs injected new life into their games. Others are youngsters getting their shots at stardom, and some upperclassmen are thriving too.
Then there are players who've been good for a long time but have surged into the spotlight in 2022.
Let's take a look at the biggest breakout stars in the sport just past the halfway point of the season.
Jayden Daniels, LSU Quarterback
The light has come on for Jayden Daniels.
Now, it's burning brighter than those of the vast majority of quarterbacks.
After Daniels transferred from Arizona State to LSU in the offseason, he began to realize his massive potential under Brian Kelly. Thanks to the COVID year, he could even stay and develop for a fifth season.
He may not need to.
To say Daniels is new to the national radar would be a stretch. He was highly regarded as a recruit and an underclassman for the Sun Devils in 2019, starting immediately. But his growth stalled, and he bolted the Herm Edwards mess after a 2021 season in which he threw 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
This year, he's been spectacular for the 6-2 Tigers, especially recently. He torched Florida and Ole Miss during the past two games for 11 total touchdowns and no turnovers.
For the season, he's completing nearly 70 percent of his passes for 12 touchdowns and one interception. He's also rushed for 524 yards and nine touchdowns, and he's learning to better integrate his receivers.
Daniels is finally playing like the star he was always projected to be.
Max Duggan, TCU Quarterback
Max Duggan crawled from the scrap heap and turned into a priceless weapon for one of college football's biggest surprises.
The senior signal-caller has started for essentially four seasons for the TCU Horned Frogs, when he hasn't been injured. But a career that was left for dead when the program announced it was hiring head coach Sonny Dykes, who subsequently named Chandler Morris the starter to begin the season, has instead been turbo-charged.
Duggan isn't the brand of fling-it-around quarterback Dykes normally deploys. He's been a run-first athlete who's tended to take to his wheels early in his progressions. But after Duggan took over for an injured Morris in the team's first game, he's been brilliant.
He's completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 1,871 yards, 19 touchdowns and just one interception, and he's run for 274 yards and four scores.
Dykes told the FS1 crew for last week's game against Kansas State that Duggan was playing at as high of a level as any quarterback he's ever coached. Those are big words considering Dykes' coaching pedigree, having guided signal-callers such as Jared Goff and Nick Foles.
Duggan is authoring one of the most memorable seasons in school history. If the undefeated Horned Frogs can keep marching toward the Big 12 title, Duggan will keep padding his legacy.