CB DJ Daniel ( @djdaniel_14) really stood out to me while watching Georgia’s defense so I decided to make a thread to break down some of his film:

Class: Senior
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 185

Daniel is an interesting prospect since 2019 was his first year at UGA + playing D1 football.

He spent his first 2 seasons playing ball at Georgia Military College and was ranked the #6 JUCO prospect nationally and #2 ranked JUCO CB. (via @247Sports)

Played in 13/14 games, starting the last 11 games in his first season at Georgia.

2019 stats:
42 tackles
8 passes defnded

*Allowed 25 catches on 53 targets (47.2% ) while allowing 2 TDs in coverage (via @PFF)

Really solid numbers for 1st year in the SEC.

I only noticed him at first b/c of how long his arms looked lol. He’s got good height but I can imagine scouts will value his wingspan.

Anyways. Daniel opens the gate a little early here but stays in great position. In step with the WR he shows nice timing to break up the pass.

Daniel has good movement skills for his position:
(+) Active feet
(+) Agile/Athletic
(+) Change of direction
(+) Quick hips

He exhibits a high-level of body control on tape as well.

What I really like about Daniel is his ability to contest catches. Regardless of the situation, he’s consistently in position to make the WR have to work for it. I like the way he competes and doesn’t allow many ‘easy’ catches.

I love this play. Auburn catches Daniel out of position-looking to the sideline on this go route. He doesn’t panic and plays the ball perfectly to stop a huge play.

He’s beat off the LOS but keeps his head down and doesn’t break stride to even have a chance at the ball.

Once the receiver’s eyes widen you look for the ball. Daniel gets his head around and finds it at the last second to rip it out. He’s got good ball skills. I like it.

You can see Daniel communicates pre-snap. A handful of reps on film you could see him process info/personnel/formation quickly to know his responsibility.

Knowing your assignment each snap allows you to play fast without over-thinking which is crucial at the next level.

This play stood out. LSU changes the play at the LOS to a rub route on the outside. Daniel recognizes this and signals that it’s crosser to the slot CB.

He jams #6 HARD to reroute the slot WR just enough to mess up Burrow’s timing and allow the rush to get home.

QB and WR aren’t on the same page here but Daniel reads the QB quickly and confidently jumps the would-be comeback route for a near pick.

The main critique I have in Daniel’s game rn is his tendency to reach/lunge at the WR in press. There’s too many times where he uses @eric_crocker's favorite 2-hand jam technique and gets his hips locked and feet stuck.

He’s a very efficient tackler for not being the biggest CB. Shows some good effort and urgency in some of these clips.

Even though he gives up some catches here I like how he’s right there to make a stop for minimal YAC.

*89.2 tackling grade in 2019 ( @PFF)

Just a few more clips I had that I liked.

Daniel is one of the many talented players on that UGA defense. I thought he was very impressive in his first season against some serious competition.

He was the co-winner of Defensive Newcomer of the Year award given out by the team.

He’ll be a senior this year so hopefully there’s a season/chance for him to show even more improvement to take the leap into the league.

#CRFB