James Daniels Headed to NFL

[trj]

This is a very good point. Over the past few seasons, the quality of play of the offensive lines in the NFL has taken a big step back. It seems like almost every NFL team is having offensive line issues, so, if you even show upside, you're likely to be taken a little earlier than normal right now.

As a Packer fan, I can definitely attest to that. With all the injuries, they were forced to play the back-ups to the back-ups and it got downright ugly at times this last season. Tackles weren't even out there for the taking, so guards were literally being signed off the street, then getting moved to tackle and starting the same week.

Schools like Iowa and Wisconsin are going to become very valuable because of their ability to coach and develop o-linemen. The current NFL CBA isn’t up until 2020, so practice time is limited with these guys. You need them either ready to go or a foundation to work with.

So many o- lineman are coming out of these spread offenses and 2 point stances that you have to start from scratch. Given the current CBA you just don’t have time to work these kids.

What do you think? Welsh goes before Daniels or vice versa.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Schools like Iowa and Wisconsin are going to become very valuable because of their ability to coach and develop o-linemen. The current NFL CBA isn’t up until 2020, so practice time is limited with these guys. You need them either ready to go or a foundation to work with.

So many o- lineman are coming out of these spread offenses and 2 point stances that you have to start from scratch. Given the current CBA you just don’t have time to work these kids.

What do you think? Welsh goes before Daniels or vice versa.

I think that's actually been the case for quite awhile. Numerous NFL coaches and GMs have lauded Iowa's "pro-ready" football players, especially at OL and TE. Iowa's offensive linemen always get a strong look, and teams love the fact that we emphasize blocking with our TEs. That said, I do think that our reputation on the OL has dropped off some recently. Wisconsin and Notre Dame have risen there, but our recruiting has picked up lately, so we should be able to get that status back.

I think Daniels will be taken ahead of Welsh. A lot will depend upon the combine, but as of right now, it looks like Daniels will probably be selected late 2nd to early 4th. Welsh is probably looking at late 4th to 6th. I also could see someone taking a flyer on Boettger in the 6th or 7th.