soulman Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 (edited) LOOK: Bears LG James Daniels bulked up massively this offseason Alyssa Barbieri follow 16 minutes ago The Chicago Bears have reported to Halas Hall for training camp. For most of them, this is their first time since they’ve reported to the facility following the 2019 season. And things have certainly changed from January to July. Case in point: left guard James Daniels. The Bears website has been sharing video and photos of rookies and veterans arriving for training camp, and Daniels certainly stole the show with a new bulkier appearance, a clear indication that the third-year offensive lineman has been hitting the weight room hard this offseason. And fans are absolutely loving the new-look Daniels. Daniels returns for his third season with the Bears. But unlike last summer, Daniels won’t be getting reps at center. Last training camp, Daniels and Cody Whitehair switched positions to center and left guard, respectively. That didn’t translate into the regular season, which caused a midseason switch-up. According to Whitehair, he expects to be taking snaps at center, which would leave Daniels to remain at left guard, where he’s flourished. While Daniels has been a solid draft pick by general manager Ryan Pace, he has a chance to take his play to the next level. The hope is that the bulk will translate into strength, which would help Daniels do just that. Edited August 2, 2020 by soulman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Needed. Upper body strength has been an issue. He has had to survive as a positional blocker. This should allow him to generate more initial power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike90 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Dude certainly looks like a monster in that picture...hopefully it's all go and not all show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 They still have him listed at 305lbs but from that pic I'd guess 315lbs at least. It's like he went from large to very, very large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Hopefully the strength matches up with the mass. Regardless I'm damn happy he has clearly been putting a lot of work in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, soulman said: According to Whitehair, he expects to be taking snaps at center, which would leave Daniels to remain at left guard, where he’s flourished. Thank god. I understood the idea of trying to move Daniels back to the center position that he played in college but he played well at guard and Whitehair was doing just fine at C, other than letting a few snaps sail on him which has been fixed, and I'm never on-board with trying to fix what it isn't broken. 32 minutes ago, Sugashane said: Hopefully the strength matches up with the mass. Regardless I'm damn happy he has clearly been putting a lot of work in. Yes. I was worried that the C19 stuff would cause some players to get lazy and it's clear that Daniels hasn't been one of them. Edited August 3, 2020 by JustAnotherFan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 6 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said: Thank god. I understood the idea of trying to move Daniels back to the center position that he played in college but he played well at guard and Whitehair was doing just fine at C, other than letting a few snaps sail on him which has been fixed, and I'm never on-board with trying to fix what it isn't broken. Yes. I was worried that the C19 stuff would cause some players to get lazy and it's clear that Daniels hasn't been one of them. His biggest problem at OG was his lack of size. It was pretty obvious in games when he faced bigger, heavier DL that he was over matched at 300lbs. It doesn't look like that's gonna continue to be a problem. He looks like the size of a dump truck now. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Upper body strength allows you to jar the defender and get an advantage when it comes to drive your legs. Without if you are just trying to dig them out with your legs. Think of truck hitting another truck. The hand punch is like hitting the truck going 50 and keeping the pedal down. Lots of power. No hand punch and it is like easing into the other truck at 10 and then having to floor it to get the same movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfan Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 On 8/3/2020 at 6:14 AM, soulman said: His biggest problem at OG was his lack of size. It was pretty obvious in games when he faced bigger, heavier DL that he was over matched at 300lbs. It doesn't look like that's gonna continue to be a problem. He looks like the size of a dump truck now. LOL I may be showing my age a bit but I remember when the Frig came into the league everyone wondered if 300+lb players could stay healthy. Now your "small" if your not over 300 on the OL! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 9, 2020 Author Share Posted August 9, 2020 7 hours ago, Bfan said: I may be showing my age a bit but I remember when the Frig came into the league everyone wondered if 300+lb players could stay healthy. Now your "small" if your not over 300 on the OL! True. But in 1985 the Bears OL probably averaged around 270-275 lbs at OG and OT and Hilgy was only 255-260lbs. Fridge's problem was he couldn't maintain his rookie weight long term or stay healthy but it seems that's impacted him now as well long after his career ended. Relative to the size of OL today Fridge would have needed to go 350lbs as a rookie which he eventually did anyway and kind of outgrew his career. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfan Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 5 hours ago, soulman said: True. But in 1985 the Bears OL probably averaged around 270-275 lbs at OG and OT and Hilgy was only 255-260lbs. Fridge's problem was he couldn't maintain his rookie weight long term or stay healthy but it seems that's impacted him now as well long after his career ended. Relative to the size of OL today Fridge would have needed to go 350lbs as a rookie which he eventually did anyway and kind of outgrew his career. You summed it up perfectly. Players always seem to be getting bigger, faster, and sometimes smarter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 We need Daniels to be a difference maker on the OL. Whitehair I think has ceilinged out at a good starting C. We need someone who can dominate some reps and Daniels is the only hope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonserinNC Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Not surprising at all, one of the things with drafting him was that he was only 20. Also that he was super high character. So yeah, a 22 year old good kid put the work in to get better. Good stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonserinNC Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 On 8/9/2020 at 12:54 PM, WindyCity said: We need Daniels to be a difference maker on the OL. Whitehair I think has ceilinged out at a good starting C. We need someone who can dominate some reps and Daniels is the only hope. I agree, Daniels needs to be Long. That being said, I think its very possible, like I said in my previous post, you draft a young high quality guy, 2nd round pick. There was a little trouble at C but he looks like he is ready to live up to his potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 On 8/9/2020 at 12:54 PM, WindyCity said: We need Daniels to be a difference maker on the OL. Whitehair I think has ceilinged out at a good starting C. We need someone who can dominate some reps and Daniels is the only hope. Whitehair could improve his gun snap technique which has been somewhat remedial. His snaps are slow and it sounds like a small thing, but every fraction of a second counts. A long time center snaps fast like a pass. Whitehair often kind of lobs his gun snaps. The timing of jet sweeps and zone reads are effected by this. This was a major reason I wanted Daniels to play center out of college and was disappointed when he struggled there. You can also see he slightly slower off ball at center versus guard which is natural because at guard you aren’t snapping. He has gotten a lot better at it with reps which is also natural. Whitehair is one of best IOL in league at getting to 2nd level of defense at his best. It is what impresses me most about him. In 2019 he really struggled in some games however in all aspects. At his best Whitehair is pro bowl level IOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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