Steelers 2-a-days: James Daniels stabilized RG; former 2nd-round pick Duke Dawson a CB option

Editor’s note: From the end of minicamp through the day the team reports to training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2023 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, between June 16 and July 26. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

G JAMES DANIELS

Experience: 6^th NFL season

Contract status: $11.2 million cap hit in 2023, signed through 2024

2023 outlook: Daniels became the most expensive signing of an outside free agent in Steelers’ history when he agreed to a three-year, $26.5 million contract in March 2022. Along with center Mason Cole, he was at the forefront of the veteran makeover of the Steelers’ interior offensive line that continued this past spring with the signing of Isaac Seumalo to play left guard.

Daniels slotted in at right guard a year after injury pushed David DeCastro into apparent retirement. DeCastro had held his job for almost a decade but Daniels — only 24 years old when signed — was a perfect combination of youth and experience (four years as a starter for the Chicago Bears) to serve as a longterm heir apparent.

Though he had a shaky start to training camp and the line on whole wasn’t at its best early in the regular season, Daniels appeared to peak by the end of the season. According to Pro Football Focus, Daniels allowed only two QB “pressures” over 133 offensive snaps in the Steelers’ final four games of 2022. He did not allow a sack and was charged with just three QB hits all season, and never allowed more than two pressures in any game.

Daniels, like Cole, stabilized the Steelers’ offensive line in 2022 by serving as quality veterans. Each is back — now flanked by the respected Seumalo — to anchor the line from the middle.

Steelers RG James Daniels on why the team was able to go 5-1 after a 3-7 start pic.twitter.com/agRmGxHeDw

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 5, 2023

CB DUKE DAWSON

Experience: 26 regular-season NFL games in 2019-20

Contract status: $1.08 million cap hit in 2023 if he makes the team

2023 outlook: A former second-round pick of the New England Patriots, Dawson has had a star-crossed NFL career in regards to injury. Four of the first five pro seasons he’s been a part of since entering the NFL in 2018 have been marred by a stint on the injured reserve or physically unable to perform lists. It was a hamstring that prevented Dawson from playing as a rookie, a torn ACL that prematurely ended his third season (2020) and affected the start of his fourth (2021). Last season, a groin injury landed Dawson on the Carolina Panthers’ IR list in August. Six weeks after leaving that team via waivers, Dawson was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad and he’s been with the organization ever since.

It’s easy to be satisfied with this low-risk, high-reward strategy of signing a former high-pedigree prospect whose career has been held back by injury. But is Dawson the player that Bill Belichick thought highly enough of to trade up to grab with the idea he would help his Super Bowl-winning roster? Or is Dawson the player that the Patriots and two other organizations gave up on, at points in time when there was seemingly no downside to keeping him around to give him a shot?

A slot corner by trade who is on a roster without a clear-cut starter at that position, Dawson will give the Steelers a chance to evaluate him over the coming weeks and find out.

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