sturf wrote:I was excited to see Daniels get playing time. He seemed to only make a couple of mistakes, while flashing the athletic ability that separates him from Kush. Once I saw them at training camp I understood why Daniels is the one moving to guard. Daniels is already obviously bigger and longer than Whitehair and at given his age will likely only get bigger. Combine that with the fact that Whitehair snapping issues aside has been much more impactful at center than he has at guard so far in the NFL, and it made sense to me as long as the Bears have Whitehair.
Daniels showed enough that they he definitely should make a positive difference in the run game and screen plays with his athleticism if he's starting next game.
Whitehair has barely played guard. He was drafted to play LG, but was forced to play center after the team cut Slausen, Grasu got hurt, Larsen was awful, and the Bears lucked into Sitton getting cut. The only time he really played guard was in spot duty to fill in for Sitton/Long during their myriad of injuries. So I can't say he hasn't had an impact when he hasn't really had a chance to play there.
If there is one reason that Whitehair sticks at center it will be because he has really short arms, which is less than ideal at guard - and giant hands, the combination of which is ideal for a center.
Daniels however has arms almost 3 inches longer than Whitehair and has better movement skills... which is important in this offense.
I think Daniels "should" be the center, but it's clear that the team values the guard position more than the center position, so they are putting the better player at guard.
Plus, sticking a 20 year old kid at arguably one of the more complicated positions isn't a great idea.