Chicago Bears: James Daniels 2019 rookie comparison

How did Chicago Bears guard James Daniels rookie season compare to other interior lineman taken in the 2019 NFL draft?

Many were surprised to see James Daniels fall to the Chicago Bears in the second round. While he was not fully refined and did not start week one of his rookie season, part of his flare is that he was a 20-year old when he was drafted. His ceiling was higher than most as he succeeded against older competition his entire life.

However, he still fell to the second round, going behind five other interior offensive linemen in 2019. Quenton Nelson, Frank Ragnow, Billy Price, Austin Corbett, and Braden Smith all went ahead of him while Connor Williams went shortly after.

How did Daniels compare to these players in his rookie season?

Snaps Played

Quenton Nelson was a consensus top player and played every snap as a rookie. First-round pick Frank Ragnow was not far behind, putting in over 1,000 snaps for the Detroit Lions as a rookie. Braden Smith played 978 snaps for the Indianapolis Colts, and then James Daniels came in fourth amongst rookies with 826.

Connor Williams was right behind with 820 snaps, followed by Billy Price, who dealt with injury and played 558 snaps and Austin Corbett, who played 14 snaps for the Cleveland Browns sitting behind Keven Zeitler.

Sacks Allowed

James Daniels was not credited for a single sack allowed in 2019. This, of course, was the best rate of any rookie. Quenton Nelson allowed two sacks playing close to 400 more snaps. He gave up a sack on just 0.25% of his snaps.

There is a huge gap between Nelson and Daniels, which speaks very well to Daniels.

Frank Ragnow and Braden Smith allowed four sacks a piece, a 0.60% and 0.67% rate respectively. Billy Price only allowed one sack, but his limited sacks saw it come on 0.85% of his snaps, while Connor Williams was credited with five sacks allowed, a 0.99% rate. Austin Corbett did not allow any sacks, but in 14 snaps played, that would be a terrible rate if he had, and he is not going to qualify for most of these categories.

Hits Allowed

Quenton Nelson once again paces the group with four hits allowed, seeing them come at 0.49% rate. However, once again James Daniels is in discussion with him ahead of the pack. He allowed three hits, a 0.63% rate.

Connor Williams, and Billy Price each had a rate under 1% as well. Williams allowed a hit at a 0.79% rate while Price had a 0.85% rate.

Frank Ragnow allowed 10 hits, a 1.49% rate while Braden Smith allowed nine hits, a 1.50% rate.

Hurries Allowed

Surprise, Quenton Nelson did not allow many hurries either. His 2.22% hurry rate led the group again. Unfortunately, Daniels was not right behind him this time, as it was Price and his 2.28% rate.

James Daniels and Frank Ragnow were in the tier below those two with a 3.75% and 3.25% rate. respectively.  Braden Smith and Connor Williams pull up the rear with 4.16% and 4.55% rates respectively.

Pressures Allowed

Once again we see a strong showing by Billy Price. Price has a 2.85% pressure rate allowed, which tops all guards. However, Nelson was not far behind with a 2.96% rate.

Those two had a huge lead on the rest. In fact, James Daniels sat comfortably in third with a 4.38% rate.

The next closest is 5.36% from Frank Ragnow. Lastly, we see Williams, and Smith with a 6.32% rate.

Penalties

Sacks and penalties saw James Daniels leading the group. His 0.36% penalty rate led these guards. Braden Smith was not far behind with a 0.41% penalty rate. Frank Ragnow sits a tier below the other two with a 0.51% penalty rate.

Quenton Nelson finally did not lead a group or see himself right near the top. With a 0.90% penalty rate, he nearly doubled the other three. Connor Williams and Billy Price had a penalty rate over 1%. Price had a 1.25% rate while Williams had a 1.19% rate.

Final Rankings

1. Quenton Nelson
2. James Daniels 
3. Braden Smith 
4. Frank Ragnow
5. Billy Price 
6. Connor Williams 
7. Austin Corbett

Despite the penalties, Nelson played by far the most snaps and had the best showing as a rookie. However, Daniels also is the clear number two rookie performer on the interior. His sacks and penalties allowed help, but Daniels was consistent across the board, and the four weeks he saw rotating in still had him right in line with his peers.

Braden Smith and Frank Ragnow had promising rookie seasons. Ragnow was up and down doing well in hurries and penalties, but hits and pressures allowed as well as hurries. Braden Smith was more consistently in the middle of these seven players.

Price and Williams were more inconsistent as rookies while Corbett was easily the least effective as a rookie.