James Daniels Describes His Experience Blocking Aaron Donald

The Chicago Bears offense took a back seat to the defense last Sunday night. Understandably so. They managed just 13 points on the evening and barely topped 300 total yards. The defense held one of the best offenses in all of football to six points and even scored two of their own with a timely safety in the second half. However, the offense did have a few heroes that night. One of them was James Daniels. The rookie left guard went into the game with easily the most brutal task of any man on that field. He was the one primarily responsible for lining up against Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. A man who had at least two sacks in each of the past three games and 16.5 overall. He was the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and a heavy favorite to defend that crown in 2018. Asking a 21-year old kid to block him for 60 minutes is akin to asking a zookeeper during his first week of work to wrestle a silverback gorilla. He'll give it a shot but it will probably end in a bad way. The game progressed and by the end, Donald had been held without a sack and few pressures on Mitch Trubisky at all. It was a potentially star-making performance. At least as guards go. So what was the experience like?

James Daniels was amazed at how good Donald was

The young lineman spoke with John Mullin of NBC Sports about his impressions of Donald as a player after having blocked him so effectively. The rookie didn't come off as anybody feeling cocky from what he'd just done. Instead he was impressed more than anything at just how ridiculously good Donald is, especially from a technical standpoint.

“No defensive tackle I’ve ever played has played like that. He protects his chest and that’s why offensive linemen have trouble. You’re trying to ‘punch’ him but he protects and there’s nothing you can punch. He’s at an angle. That’s why he’s so good. If you really look at tape, you see how he protects, and he was doing a great job every play of keeping his hands inside.”

People forget that though Donald is talented, what separates good players from the elite players is technique and mental acuity. Donald is arguably the most technically proficient defensive tackle in the NFL. Throw in the quickness, power, and explosion and you get a perennial All-Pro who probably ends up in the Hall of Fame someday. Knowing this now, it only makes Daniels come off looking like more of a badass for shutting him out on the stat sheet. Seems the Bears did indeed score big when they drafted him in the second round out of Iowa.