{"id":36621,"date":"2025-03-28T03:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T03:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=36621"},"modified":"2025-03-28T03:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T03:46:12","slug":"miami-dolphins-free-agency-james-daniels-doesnt-care-where-he-lines-up-excited-to-play-in-mike-mcdaniels-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=36621","title":{"rendered":"Miami Dolphins Free Agency: James Daniels doesn\u2019t care where he lines up; excited to play in Mike McDaniel\u2019s Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-entry-summary p-dek\">Left Guard? Right Guard? Doesn\u2019t matter to James Daniels \u2014 he\u2019s just excited to be playing for the Miami Dolphins! #FinsUp<\/p>\n<p id=\"YsJOsl\">Two weeks after 2025 NFL Free Agency kicked off, I think it\u2019s safe to say that the\u00a0Miami Dolphins&#8217; most-prized free agent was former\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0offensive lineman James Daniels.<\/p>\n<p id=\"A5gY2t\">Daniels, 27, signed a three-year deal with the Dolphins this offseason worth an estimated $24 million. A contract that comes with a great deal of expectations, from fans and coaches alike. This is something Daniels not only welcomes but understands:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p id=\"SIbb1x\"><em>\u201cEvery free agent signing, especially when it\u2019s a multi-year deal for a total of double digits, you understand that you\u2019re being signed to a team for a reason&#8230;I understand the position I\u2019m in, and I understand that the Dolphins believe a lot in me and that the fans are expecting a lot from me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"bMcOE3\">Asked what attracted him to Miami Gardens in the first place, Daniels was clear that he had long admired what Mike McDaniel was doing in Miami and believes he can be an asset in the offense.<\/p>\n<p id=\"AmHQCj\"><em>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of playmakers. I\u2019ve always watched \u2013 I think two years ago the Dolphins were like top five in the league in rushing. They\u2019ve always been a great rushing team for the past couple of years, so it\u2019s always attracted me. I\u2019m very excited to get the chance to play in the offense and it seems really fun.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"xc1Dti\">Drafted by the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0in the 2nd round (39th overall) of the 2018\u00a0NFL Draft, Daniels started 48 out of 54 games during his first four seasons in the league, lining up primarily at guard with some time at center sprinkled in.<\/p>\n<p id=\"rZQ5xY\">He\u2019d join the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, where he\u2019d go on to start the next two seasons at right guard before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury that ended his 2024 campaign. A catastrophic injury that Daniels can somehow find the good in.<\/p>\n<p id=\"4krdet\"><em>\u201cLuckily, I have been rehabbing since the first week of October&#8230; I\u2019ve had multiple months of rehab &#8230;Again it definitely is pretty tough, but I\u2019m lucky I have a good support system around me and that\u2019s happened&#8230; I\u2019m going to be fully healthy when the season starts, so I can\u2019t complain about that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"mQqqKA\">Asked the ever-important question of whether he prefers to line up on the left or right side of the offensive line, Daniels was adamant it didn\u2019t matter to him.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p id=\"GAVoJi\">\u201cI feel at home anywhere. Yes, I\u2019ve played right guard the past three seasons, but in Chicago, I played left guard and I played center as well&#8230;.left guard or right guard, it really doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"nnA6bW\">Daniels continued:\u00a0<em>\u201cEver since going back to my Iowa days \u2013 I was a center at Iowa, but whenever you do stuff at Iowa, it\u2019s like they always make sure you do snaps at right guard, snaps at left guard, snaps at center. Luckily, even going back to all of my Iowa days, I\u2019ve always been taught to always do right and left stuff. So I\u2019ve been fortunate for that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"vQjZj8\">He also went on to answer an important question that I proposed on a recent episode of Another Dolphins Podcast, and that\u2019s whether or not it wouldn\u2019t be more beneficial for Daniels to line up next to a second-year left tackle like Patrick Paul \u2014 Daniels didn\u2019t seem to think it mattered.<\/p>\n<div id=\"J1nnUi\">\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"kNKzug\"><em>\u201cNo, it really doesn\u2019t matter because the coach is teaching the same technique to the left guard, he\u2019s teaching the same technique to the right tackle, left tackle. The techniques are the same&#8230;He\u2019s not coaching people differently. So I mean it really doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a rookie at left guard, me at left guard, rookie right guard, me at right guard. It really doesn\u2019t matter because the coaching points are the same&#8230; whoever is out there&#8230; you\u2019re expected to play to the standard of being dominant offensive line, helping the offense be a dominant offense.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"xoR8BS\">It may be uncertain where Daniels will start on Miami\u2019s offensive line, but whether it\u2019s left guard or right guard, the team hopes he\u2019s the missing ingredient to help stabilize the Dolphins&#8217; offense. Hell, maybe he can even make them dominant&#8230; oh, how nice that would be!<\/p>\n<h5 id=\"lBs73e\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.miamidolphins.com\/transcripts\/\"><strong>*All Quotes were taken from the Miami Dolphins\u2019 official website<\/strong><\/a><\/h5>\n<p id=\"etPPdR\"><em>What are your thoughts on James Daniels? Do you think he should play on the left or right side of the offensive line? Better yet, who should the other starting guard be? Do you think Miami will add a starting offensive lineman in the draft? Let us know in the comments section below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Left Guard? Right Guard? Doesn\u2019t matter to James Daniels \u2014 he\u2019s just excited to be playing for the Miami Dolphins! #FinsUp Two weeks after 2025 NFL Free&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Miami Dolphins Free Agency: James Daniels doesn\u2019t care where he lines up; excited to play in Mike McDaniel\u2019s Offense - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=36621\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miami Dolphins Free Agency: James Daniels doesn\u2019t care where he lines up; excited to play in Mike McDaniel\u2019s Offense - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Left Guard? 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