Chicago Bears: Digging into new OL James Daniels
With the 39th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears took one of my favorite players in the entire class, University of Iowa offensive lineman James Daniels. What makes him such a great steal?
The reason why James Daniels fell to pick No. 39 was something of a mystery. He believes that his past knee problems weren’t an issue: “All the trainers and doctors I talked to, they said they didn’t have a problem,” he told reporters. “It didn’t scare them at all.”
Apparently, the Chicago Bears weren’t scared off. And that’s why the made him the first of their two second-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Given that Austin Corbett and Braden Smith both went several picks before him, it’s strange. It does beg the question, why didn’t Daniels go earlier?
Regardless, what can you say about JD? He started 12 games at center last season after starting at left guard when starting out at Iowa. So the experience and versatility are clearly there. Ryan Pace said that he is going to start out at left guard out of the gate. However, the door is open for a future move to center.
Tabbed by most analysts as a zone-blocking scheme lineman, he will fit like a glove in the Matt Nagy offense. Toss in offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich and the spread offense college concepts and this gets really interesting.
He’s a pretty athletic lineman, which fits in so well with the rest of the very deep interior line. Cody Whitehair and Kyle Long getting a new member to the crew should be exciting for Mitchell Trubisky, Jordan Howard and Co.
Strengths:
- Fluid, smooth operator
- Has quick feet to go with elite athleticism
- Can get to the second level to crush and seal off linebackers
- Will dominate in the ground game and won’t make mistakes in pass protection
In a draft class with quality centers, James Daniels sticks out as a sure thing. Frank Ragnow and Billy Price dealt with pre-draft injury concerns yet still went higher, which may suggest they successfully assuaged any concerns. For Daniels, there really wasn’t much of anything that screamed “red flag” in the medicals.
Regarding what he does well, my list doesn’t really do him justice. There are a ton of things I could’ve listed, but I went with the big four that I thought were the most important. He does lots of things really well. His speed and athleticism should make him a problem for linemen. But when he gets to the second level? Game over. He’s just a big mauler in the run game.
The below video with Bears Area Scout Scott Hamel gives a nice little summary as to fit and distinguishing attributes.
Weaknesses:
- Needs to bulk up more (especially when the move to center happens)
- Can he hold up against power rushers?
I couldn’t really find much about Daniels that I didn’t like. Given that he’s starting as the left guard out of the gate, most concerns will be minimal. What I marked down is more so based off of him playing the center position. Adding more bulk to his frame will happen in time and will only make him scarier.
There really wasn’t much to nitpick about him. That’s after me removing all of my biases (I really like this guy and his fit).
Conclusion:
In one of our group mock drafts, I actually mocked the former Hawkeye to this draft slot. At the time, I was being hopeful that he would somehow be available. But I doubted that he would be there because he was so damn good in college.
Lucky for me, my prayers were answered.
My grade for this selection would be an A+ because of the talent they acquired and what spot in the draft they got it. The valuation here is immaculate.
Next: Chicago Bears: It's Time to Start Believing Again
Anytime you can get a starter with your first few picks, you’re doing something right.
#Beardown