The Passing Game
When it comes to pass protection at tackle, it’s hard not to start with foot speed; if a player is unable to be competitive in this way, it is very hard for them not to be a liability. Fortunately, Daley showed nice foot speed on Sunday:
What is especially important to note here is how he is able to stay in front of the defender without having to sacrifice balance, as he keeps his weight evenly distributed through small fast steps rather than resorting to taking huge strides in an attempt to stay in front of rushers. He also showed some really nice hand usage at points, locating his hands on the frame of the defender, allowing him to control the block with ease and drive the defender off balance:
And even when the defender did a good job of preventing him from getting to his frame, he did well to make sure he got hands on the defender to allow him to drive the defender wide of the pocket:
However, there was something that he needs to work on in this regard – he showed a slight tendency to drop his hands somewhat at times, exposing his frame to the defender and making it hard for him to react quickly to punches. This is visible on the following play, though here he does a decent job of recovering:
But this next time he wasn’t as lucky, and he allows the defender to drive him upward and then release to get a hit on the quarterback:
The other thing he struggled with at times, and which Greg Little has also had some issues with, is timing his punch; a couple of times he reached for blocks that were too far away, allowing the defender plenty of time to swat his arms aside for a clean run to the quarterback:
This is something that he just needs to work on, as does Little; NFL defenders are likely to come at them a lot faster than college ones and it could take some time to adjust to the difference in timing between college and the NFL. However, with all this said, Daley did some really nice things on Sunday in pass protection and there were plays where he really put it all together and looked every bit the starting NFL tackle:
On the whole, Daley had a really strong game. While it is far too soon to say that the position is his to lose – I still think it’s Little’s job when he gets back – Daley looked like a legitimate NFL tackle on Sunday, and even if he is currently being viewed as the long-term solution at left guard, if he keeps playing like this, he might also get talked about when Taylor Moton’s contract comes up in eighteen months time.
