Pass Protection
While being a good run blocker is always a positive, if Daley is going to stay at tackle, pass protection is going to have to be a major part of his game – even if he moves to guard, this is going to be at the heart of what he is asked to do. Fortunately, there is also a lot to like about Daley’s potential in this regard as well, but as with his run blocking, his tape is more a story of potential rather than immediate production.
The core of pass protection for any offensive tackle is foot speed, and this is an area where Daley really impresses, with the ability to cover speed rushers around the edge without having to break his slide:
And when he keeps his feet moving through the play, he shows the ability to mirror defenders back and forth without sacrificing balance:
However, as the condition above suggests, he does sometimes let his feet get stationary after the initial rush, making him liable to getting beat by reaccelerations if the ball doesn’t come out quickly:
This is simply a discipline issue that hopefully can be worked on with coaching.
However, there are more significant issues with his slide from a technique point of view. The most significant of which is his knee bend, which once again is quite inconsistent, and this forces him to lean into contact with his upper body, which then creates balance issues that his lower body has to clear up, something which better pass rushers will be able to exploit due to the way he puts himself temporarily off-balance. Note the way in which he crosses one leg over the other towards the end of the following play:
This narrows his base significantly and makes him very vulnerable to power moves. Again, this is something that might be able to be fixed with coaching; but as of right now, this is something that defenders will be able to exploit.
This lack of knee bend at times shows up in the passing game in others ways as well, as it made it possible for defenders to create leverage advantages even when blocked:
And his tendency to straighten his legs as the play goes on in particular made him very susceptible to bull rushes:
The encouraging thing here is that this isn’t something he does on every play and is something that tends to develop during a play as well, suggesting that it is less a matter of physical limitation but rather, once again, a matter of discipline and awareness of technique. As with the run game, this lack of bend in turn creates some control issues as he looks to bend into contact with his lower back rather than his legs:
Of course, there’s a lot more to pass protection than foot speed and knee bend, and the other major component is the way in which a player uses his hands. There are a number of things to like about Daley’s hand usage, as he shows the hand speed and coordination to fight through early contact:
And, boy, is he good at freeing his frame when a defender does get an inside hand:
And when he keeps his elbows inside, he shows the ability to strike accurately with strong arms to get inside location:
And even when he does get beaten around the outside for various reasons, he does a good job of not completely allowing outside leverage, as he consistently showed the ability to use his outside arm to prevent the defender from being able to effectively turn the corner:
However, there is a consistent issue with his hand usage – his arms get way way too wide on several occasions, with his elbows consistently getting outside his frame, thereby exposing his frame, allowing defenders to get inside position to drive him backwards:
Which, in turn, makes it easier for defenders to release off his blocks:
The cause of this is likely stemming from the balance issues created from his lack of knee bend – fixing this could make it easier to fix this tendency to widen his arms, but even if this is fixed, coaches will have to work on this habit, as it just makes things too easy for opposing defenders. However, while there is a lot that Daley and the Panthers’ coaching staff need to work on, there are a lot of really good plays in pass protection for Daley on tape:
Daley is a developmental prospect, and while the fact that he didn’t crush the scouting combine might mean that some teams didn’t immediately view him as a player with real upside, his tape says otherwise. If he was a four-year starter for a college with a history of churning out NFL tackles, it would be harder to be enthusiastic about his chances of making the most of his potential, but as a JUCO product who went on to play for a school whose most recent offensive tackle prospect of note was Travelle Wharton 15 years ago, there is reason to think that with NFL coaching. he can get at least some of the way towards his ceiling.
And after all, any time you can get a player who has NFL left tackle potential in the sixth round you’re doing pretty well – with a number of players ahead of him on the depth chart, Daley should be given a real shot to work on his technique for a year while offering depth before being asked to compete for a more significant role in 2020. That might not sound like the most exciting pick, but for a player taken 212th overall, that is excellent value.
