Finding quality players for your offensive line is a priority for every team, every year. Your quarterback can be great, and it doesn’t matter if he’s on his back all game. Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach recognized this following 2020 and revamped his entire offensive line into one of the league’s best because they had the best quarterback on planet Earth.
Star of the class? Sixth-round guard Trey Smith. Could Utah’s Braeden Daniels follow suit?
Daniels is a guard prospect hoping some team feels he can be a piece that comes in and upgrades a unit looking to protect their quarterback. When looking at Daniels’ scouting report, if all goes well, the guard may hear his name called within the NFL draft’s first two nights.
Braeden Daniels NFL Draft Profile
- Position: Guard
- School: Utah
- Year: Fifth-Year Senior
In high school, Daniels was considered a three-star recruit by 247 Sports and Rivals coming out of Hebron High School. He was voted a first-team all-district selection in 2016 when he won area and bi-district championships. Daniels has broad athleticism and also competed in track and field, finishing third in the area and district in the shot put in 2017.
Daniels’ first year at Utah was a redshirt year. He played in only two games and logged 13 total snaps. In 2019, he played and started all 14 games at left guard. He had a strong year academically and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Honor Roll.
MORE: PFN’s Free NFL Mock Draft Simulator (With Trades)
2020 was a step back, as it was for most. Daniels played in all five available games but only started one. Yet, again he was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Honor Roll.
In 2021, Daniels regained his status as a consistent starter. He again started all 14 games and played most of them (11) as the team’s right tackle. For his efforts, Daniels was named to the All-Pac-12’s second Ttam.
Last season, Daniels’ career took another step forward when he started all 14 games at left tackle — marking the third different OL position he has started in. Daniels was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first-team. His efforts helped the Utes to 217.6 rushing yards per game, which ranked 11th in the FBS and second in the Pac-12. As a left tackle, he was part of the offensive line that only allowed 1.07 sacks per game.
Braeden Daniels Scouting Report
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Braeden Daniels Combine Measurements and Results
The NFL Scouting Combine gives us a great opportunity to see how players stack up in various testing environments. Luckily, PFN has full databases of both NFL Combine measurements and NFL Combine results. Below is everything you need to know from Daniel’s Combine performance.
- Height: 6035
- Weight: 294 pounds
- Arm: 33
- Hand: 9 ⅜”
- Bench Press: N/A
- 40-Yard Dash: 4.99
Braeden Daniels Current Draft Projection
According to Tony Pauline’s Big Board, Daniels is projected as a sixth-round pick with a grade of 3.30. Pauline has him ranked as the 14th-best guard available and the 248th-ranked prospect overall.
A couple of the knocks on Daniels are his arm length and his weight. Weighing in under 300 pounds is quite light for a guard. Only three in the NFL weigh under that amount.
Daniels’ Relative Athletic Score of 9.55 makes him one of the elite guards athletically. He’s the 63rd-ranked guard out of 1,382 measured since 1987. His sub-5.00 40-yard dash is a plus for any guard, and Daniels’ 1.7 10-yard split — which is much more important — was elite.
Daniels’ agility scores were also considered “great,” which is what you want to see from a guard who will need to operate in small tight spaces and be protective of two gaps.
MORE: 2023 NFL Draft Guard Class
What makes Daniels’ evaluation difficult is that he is undersized for a tackle, and perhaps even so for a guard. Yet, guard is where there is the least amount of film on him. Out of his last 28 games, 25 were played at both tackle spots. Daniels’ athletic testing presumes he’s capable of the transition at the next level, but teams will be taking a chance at that.
When I run through the PFN Mock Draft Simulator, there is a large range of outcomes of where Daniels ends up. One real intriguing possibility is the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta has two picks in Round 4 where they can make this selection. The guard position is an interesting one in this year’s draft. Based on how the board falls, using an earlier-round pick may not be worth the value being passed on at other positions.
However, what that means is when they start to come off the board, several may come off quickly. For guards, that could happen in Rounds 4 and 5. The Falcons have a real need at the position, and Daniels could be the best choice at picks 110 or 113.