At 24 years old, James Daniels hardly counts as a grizzled veteran in the NFL.
But as a player heading into his fifth NFL season and with 54 career games, including 48 starts, he's clearly the most experienced player on the Steelers' revamped offensive line.
That was by design.
Daniels' age coupled with his experience is what made him so attractive to the Steelers when they signed him to a three-year, $26.5-million contract in free agency this offseason.
They knew they were getting younger on the offensive line -- Daniels replaces 29-year-old Trai Turner at right guard -- while also bringing in a player who has enough NFL playing time under his belt to serve as a mentor to an offensive line that is amazingly young, especially when compared to the one Daniels worked with at his previous stop with the Bears.
That line included such players as 39-year-old left tackle Jason Peters, 29-year-old left guard Cody Whitehair. When Daniels joined the Bears, now 33-year-old Kyle Long also was entrenched.
For Daniels, who was drafted at 20, this is an interesting new dynamic.
"It does feel kind of weird being the older guy. In Chicago, last year, when Larry (Borom) started, that was the first time being on the field with a guy younger than me," Daniels said Wednesday as the Steelers wrapped up their second day of OTAs at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex. "It is kind of weird being one of the most experienced guys in the room. But we all work with each other. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your first game or 200th game. It’s third-and-8, you’re expected to block the three tech(nique)."
That was something of an issue at times last season for the Steelers, hence the additions of Daniels and Mason Cole in the interior of their offensive line in free agency.
But it also means Daniels is being counted along with Cole -- who has 39 career starts -- for veteran leadership along with right tackle Chuks Okorafor, who with 35 career starts under his belt is the most experienced returning lineman on the Steelers' roster.
Cole has already turned 25, while Okorafor, like Daniels is still 24. Second-year left tackle Dan Moore is 23, while Kevin Dotson and Kendrick Green, who are splitting time at left guard, are 25 and 23, respectively.
"I feel like we’re all taking leadership roles," Daniels said. "I’m not decorated. I have a few starts. I’ve asked (Dotson) for advice. I’ve asked Kendrick for advice. I really think that is what will make us a great offensive line, everyone trying to help everyone."
The Steelers are hopeful this line will grow together and become a sum of its parts. Daniels and Cole were signed as outside free agents to three-year deals. Okorafor was re-signed to a three-year deal in the offseason as well. Moore and Green had three years remaining on their rookie contracts, while Dotson has two.
They also have a new position coach in former Panthers line coach Pat Meyer, who replaced Chris Morgan after he left in the offseason to take a position, ironically for Daniels, at least, with the Bears.
"It's been good," said Cole. "We've got a really good offensive line room. We're just trying to build that continuity on the offensive line, getting as many reps as possible. But the room's been great. Pat's been great. Matt Canada has been great."
It helps that they're all the same age and have been through similar circumstances. There's no age gap here, even if they're not all of similar backgrounds.
Daniels isn't big on social media, for example. But he knows what it is.
"It is very cool that I’m comfortable with them and they’re comfortable with me," Daniels said. "I know what Tik-Tok is, I know what Snapchat is. I don’t know if people are older, I don’t feel like they’d know what that stuff is."
He did see enough on social media to notice some things, however.
Such as the fact that many of the offensive linemen in this year's draft were less than a year younger than him. Or the fact that several players in last month's draft were actually older than him thanks to college football's eligibility rules regarding COVID-19.
"I’m not a big Twitter guy, but people were sending tweets and I’d see ‘James Daniels is six months older than this person coming into the league,'" Daniels said. "That’s crazy there were people coming into the league that were my age, just a little bit younger or a little bit older."
The Steelers are hopeful that blend of youth and experience will pay dividends and help them improve an offensive line that struggled last season because it was so young with Moore and Green starting as rookies and Dotson in just his second season.
There were certainly growing pains. But, like all young players, they're still ascending, as opposed to being older players who are on the decline.
Green, for example, was playing center after seeing just four games there in his collegiate career and playing mostly at guard.
"Last year was a new position and getting comfortable. I still don’t feel 100 percent comfortable playing center. It’s a different stance. It’s getting used to that and being able to move functionally that way was the biggest thing, and I’m still working on it," he admitted. "Last year around this time I was like a 2. And right now I’m like a 6 or 7. Obviously, you want to be a 10."
That's the idea. It still might take some time.
But there's a feeling the unit as a whole will grow together and lean on the experience of the past to get better.
It was a formula that worked with former offensive line stars such as Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva. That group was together for a long time and grew as a unit. But then they all got old and retired.
This group will be given a chance to do the same.
"When I came into the league, it was kind of hard to relate to Kyle Long because Kyle Long was so much older than me," Daniels admitted. "We’re all the same age. When I coming in, it was easier to relate to people who were closer to my age than someone who was a 30ish vet."
