Chicago Bears left guard James Daniels is off to a promising start in his third season in the NFL, thanks in part to an offseason commitment to getting bigger and stronger.
Daniels is tipping the scales at 315 pounds this season, up 15 pounds from his playing weight the previous two years.
“Juan [Castillo] says all the time, my body type,” Daniels said. “Because I’m not young, but I’m [also] not like 28, 29, and so my body has the ability, just because of my age, to put on pounds.
“I feel like the [added] weight has helped me become better. Of course, I’ve had another year in the weight room, so I’m stronger. But adding on weight, I feel like it has helped me, and I don’t feel sluggish.”
Daniels’ Pro Football Focus grade isn’t flattering through three games — 68.3, a career-low and ninth overall on offense — but analytics often have many layers. There’s no doubt his play has been a big reason why Chicago’s running game has been more effective in 2020.
Daniels’ PFF run-blocking grade (73.3) is by far a career-high and trails only Cody Whitehair for the top grade on the Bears’ offensive line.
Castillo credits part of Daniels’ better play to a focus placed on his technique.
“I know that from working in training camp with James,” said Castillo, “the things that we talked about was in the run game, we’re trying to get off our toes. When you’re on your toes, you over-extend, it affects your balance. And we talked about the same thing in pass protection. We’re going to set square, work on our timing with our hands, try to stay off our toes and play square.”
Daniels is also benefitting from the basic comfort of knowing where he’s playing every week. Remember: Daniels flipped between center and guard during his first two years in Chicago.
“This was my first camp running with the first-team offense at guard,” said Daniels, “so it was nice during camp to be able to get combos with Cody, combos with Leno throughout the entire camp.”