3 underrated NFL FAs the Miami Dolphins and other teams should consider
By Juan Vasquez
The Miami Dolphins will be running a zone scheme under Mike McDaniel, the same system he used with the 49ers, for this to be executed well Miami needs shifty linemen who can move through these blocking schemes on the run.
This is where James Daniels becomes a great fit for the Dolphins, before we look at stats let’s run the eye test. Courtesy of Twitter user King of Phinland for this video.
Daniels is a true bulldozer and the tape says it. However as of recent the young lineman (24) began to pick up steam with teams like the Giants, and Bengals. Could this lead to Chicago beating everyone to the punch and signing their young talent long term?
Who knows, but not a bad guess to doubt it since the Bears are the Bears.
Okay so let’s get to stats, in 2021 Daniels gave up 3 sacks and had a PFF grade of 71.0, some people preach PFF some people despise it I’m just showing you the numbers. Not bad but any means but not impressive at all either.
This is also a player who wasn’t the most buttoned up on the field, Daniels gave up 9 penalties which ties for 8th most in the NFL. Discipline can be coached and the Bears overall aren’t the best at that, so I see some good runway for growth on that end.
Daniels played 100% of the snaps on offense and started in every game during the 2021 season, besides his setback in 2020 the Bears guard is durable and reliable on the field.
I’m a big believer in 2 things when evaluating talent:
- What the tape shows you from a player weighs more than any stat can.
- A good environment can bring the best out of a bad player, but there’s no way a good player can bring his best out of a bad environment.
Matt Nagy and the show he ran ended up being a disaster in Chicago. I’m willing to bet that a lot of average players who showed flashes of great with the Bears, are able to turn that into consistent greatness somewhere else.
James Daniels:
- Age: 24
- Weight: 295
- Position: Guard
- Fits best with: Zone Scheme
- PFF Grade: 71.0
- Sacks: 3
- Penalties: 9
On to the next player, I know earlier on I said WR’s in free agency were overrated…