Very early in this year’s free agency period, the Steelers locked up James Daniels to a three-year contract valued at $26.5 million. Daniels got a $8.75 million signing bonus which is the extent of his guaranteed money. This was a fantastic value for a player that will still be only 24 years old when the 2022 season kicks off that already has four years of NFL experience.
To put that into some perspective, Daniels is only nine months older than Kenny Pickett. Five players that were just drafted in Pickett’s class are older than Daniels, who grew up nearby in Warren, Ohio and then joined his older brother at the University of Iowa.
As a prospect, Daniels was obviously very young for the draft process, but still played 37 games -- mostly at center after a brief initial stint at guard -- for Iowa over the 2015 to 2017 seasons. Young, yet experienced. Remember that trend.
Daniels isn’t a massive wide-bodied guard. There isn’t a lot of extra bad weight on his nearly 6’ 4” frame. He is well built and has continued to add good weight since entering the league with just under 34” arms, which is very good arm length for an interior offensive lineman. At his Combine, Daniels’ jump numbers were fine, but his 4.4 short shuttle time was simply excellent. Many don’t understand this, but the short shuttle is one of the best indicators of future success for interior offensive linemen, as they constantly must change directions abruptly while staying in balance against an array of pass-rush moves or trying to hit smaller targets like linebackers down the field in the run game.
Daniels initial quickness at the center position really stood out as a college player. He usually got into his opponent before the defensive lineman could really affect Daniels. His zone blocking against defensive linemen as well as linebackers was tremendous, and he kept his feet pumping from snap to whistle. His pure strength was adequate, but not great, but Daniels showed a real fluidity to his movements with loose hips and a wide base.
The Bears used the 39th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to select Daniels in the second round. Chicago oddly had several interior offensive linemen at the time that could play either center or guard, namely Cody Whitehair amongst others. During his time with the Bears, not a very stable organization, Daniels was shuffled too often between center and guard. As a rookie, Daniels pushed Eric Kush for the starting left guard job and started 10 games in his rookie year. Then the Bears switched Whitehair from center to left guard to start 2019, with Daniels starting the year as Chicago’s center. Right guard Kyle Long got hurt and the Bears further shuffled their interior, moving Daniels back to left guard in November of that season.
Just when it looked like Daniels was finally set at one position, he tore his pectoral muscle in the fifth game of the 2020 season, ending his year.
Last year was Daniels best as a pro with him staying at guard, this time at right guard, from start to finish. He logged a whopping 1,121 snaps at that position last year for Chicago. The first month was a little rocky for Daniels as he settled in on the right side, but he then excelled for the final three months of the season. Daniels also played over 1,000 snaps in 2019.
While Daniels has played all three interior offensive line positions in the league, he will be the Steelers starting right guard. And very possibly their best offensive lineman. He is a clear upgrade over Trai Turner and Daniels is only getting better.
Daniels is a very good movement player, something that is very important in Matt Canada’s offensive structure at the guard position. This shows in Daniels’ ability as a long and short puller, but also his quickness and agility running outside zone and other movement-based blocking assignments. Zone blocking is really Daniels’ forte and is what he has done most in college as well as in the NFL, but he also has a power element to his game because of his quickness off the ball and ability to hit his target low and on the rise as well as consistently playing the position with excellent leverage. His pass protection and run blocking are equally strong, but if he has a hole in his game overall, it is dealing with NFL defensive tackles with extreme power and bulk. But he is getting better and better in all phases of playing guard at this level.
The Steelers now have an amazing combination of youth and experience on their offensive line. All the prominent members are very cost controlled for the next few seasons, which could lead to great continuity as this unit grows together as a whole. Dating back to last year by playing so many young linemen, this was very much the Steelers plan as they look to improve their front five for 2022 and well beyond as a new quarterback develops. Getting five starting linemen that are young yet experienced as well as extremely cost controlled is an amazing and extremely difficult accomplishment for any NFL front office. There might not be a star in the group and this team could look to the draft or free agency once again next offseason, but what they have built from those perspectives is impressive. And Daniels is the best of the bunch, and his best football should be ahead of him.
