53. Mike Daniels, DE, Packers

Nobody who looks like Daniels should be able to do what the fifth-year Packer does as an interior rusher.

Doug Farrar | Jul 7, 2016

53. Mike Daniels, DE, Packers /

Nobody who looks like Daniels should be able to do what the fifth-year Packer does as an interior rusher. He stands six feet even (generously), weighs about 290 (again, generously) and doesn’t appear to be what the league traditionally considers an elite athlete. But then the ball is snapped, and Daniels is all over the place, attacking opposing offenses against the run and pass. Daniels is listed as a 3–4 end, but he plays inside in Green Bay’s sub-packages often enough to be considered an elite inside guy. There are times when he’ll take on a center and guard as a one-tech end and simply embarrass everybody in his path, bulling both blockers back with his hand-fighting and root strength. He’s one of the better multi-gap players in the NFL, but it’s his ability to create consistent inside pressure at his size that makes him so unique.

Published Jul 7, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.