Mike Daniels (American football)

Michael Wayne Daniels Jr. (born May 5, 1989) is an American football defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.[1][2]

Mike Daniels
Daniels with the Packers in 2017
No. 76 – Cincinnati Bengals
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1989-05-05) May 5, 1989
Stratford, New Jersey
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:310 lb (141 kg)
Career information
High school:Highland Regional
(Blackwood, New Jersey)
College:Iowa
NFL Draft:2012 / Round: 4 / Pick: 132
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles:252
Sacks:30.0
Pass deflections:5
Interceptions:1
Forced fumbles:2
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Daniels was born in Stratford, New Jersey to Carlene and Michael Daniels.[3] He attended Highland Regional High School in New Jersey where he played running back and defensive tackle. During his second year, he had 41 tackles and six sacks. In his junior year he had 84 tackles and nine sacks. During his senior year, Daniels had 97 tackles and 12 sacks, which earned him first team all-conference honors. He was also twice named a team captain and rushed for 2,203 yards in his career while scoring 25 touchdowns. Daniels was also a three-year letterman in wrestling and state qualifier in the discus (43.77m or 143’06) and threw the shot put (17.95m or 58’09) at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.[3]

College career

Daniels was considered a two-star prospect by Rivals.com.[4] His height was listed at six feet one inches and 230 pounds.[4] His 40-yard dash was listed at 4.6 seconds; he bench-pressed a maximum of 300 pounds and squatted 600 pounds.[4] Daniels was not highly recruited out of high school and only received scholarship offers from Iowa and Temple.[4] When he was asked about why no one knew about him coming out of high school, he replied, "honestly, I don't know".[5]

Daniels chose to play football at Iowa and was redshirted during his first year.[3] When the redshirt expired the following year, he was not listed on the depth chart after spring practice but still managed to get the first sack of his college career in a game against the Florida International University Golden Panthers, in which he also had two solo tackles and an assisted tackle.[3][6]

During his second year, Daniels played in all 13 games, and had 10 tackles including 1.5 for a loss.[3]

In his junior year with the Hawkeyes, Daniels played in every game and started eight of them. During a game against Ball State, he was awarded a career-best six tackles (four solo), as well as four more tackles for a loss and a sack.[3] His performance earned him Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the week honors.[7] At the end of the season, he earned a spot on the honorable mention All-Big Ten team by the coaches and media.[8]

During the final season of his college career, Daniels was named to the Pony Express Award preseason watch list.[9] Additionally, he was named a third team All-Big 10 by Phil Steele.[10] During the season, he started all 13 games at defensive tackle and led the team in tackles for loss and sacks.[3] He also recorded 32 solo tackles. During the season opener against Tennessee Tech, he recorded one solo tackle and one assist.[3] When the Hawkeyes competed against Nebraska, Daniels matched his career high of nine tackles.[3] His performance in his final year earned him a spot on the second team all-Big Ten team by the coaches and media.[3]

Daniels graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in sociology.

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand size40-yard dash
6 ft 0 1⁄2 in
(1.84 m)		 291 lb
(132 kg)		 32 1⁄2 in
(0.83 m)		 9 5⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		4.84 s
All values from NFL Combine

Green Bay Packers
Daniels interacting with the crowd at Lambeau Field in 2016

Scouts praised Daniels for being "quick off the ball" and using "his small frame to work between blockers". They also stated that he had good instincts and could understand offensive schemes and beat them. His size was often criticized because he was often beaten by larger blockers.[11]

Daniels was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2012 draft by the Green Bay Packers who first noticed him a year before when looking at other defensive linemen from Iowa.[12] Defensive coordinator Dom Capers commented that "The thing that jumps out at me is the way he plays the game."[12] He scored his first touchdown on December 9, 2012 against the Lions after recovering a fumble by Matthew Stafford. During his rookie season in 2012, Daniels played 14 games with 12 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defended, and 2 fumble recoveries. In 2013, Daniels appeared in 16 games making 28 tackles and 6.5 sacks. In 2014, Daniels started all 16 games with 47 tackles and 5.5 sacks. On December 14, 2015, Daniels signed a 4-year contract extension worth $42 million.[13] On December 27, 2015, despite the Packers' bad performance on the offensive line and being blown out 38–8 by the Arizona Cardinals, Daniels snagged his first interception from Carson Palmer. Daniels finished the 2015 season with 49 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 interception, 2 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble.

Daniels was ranked 95th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016,[14] and 84th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 after starting all 16 games both seasons.[15]

In Week 1 of the 2017 season, Daniels recorded seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble off of quarterback Russell Wilson in a 17–9 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Daniels's forced fumble was vital as it helped set up a Ty Montgomery rushing touchdown.

Daniels was named to his first Pro Bowl after the 2017 regular season. Having been an alternate three previous occasions in his career, on January 9, 2018, the NFL announced that Daniels would replace Aaron Donald in the 2018 Pro Bowl due to an undisclosed injury. He was ranked 93rd by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[16]

In 2018, Daniels played in 10 games, recording 18 tackles and two sacks before suffering a foot injury in Week 11. He was placed on injured reserve on December 1, 2018.[17]

On July 24, 2019, Daniels was released by the Packers after seven seasons.[18]

Detroit Lions

Two days later, Daniels signed a one-year, $9.1 million contract with the Detroit Lions.[19] He played in nine games before being placed on injured reserve on December 16, 2019.[20]

Cincinnati Bengals

Daniels signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on August 12, 2020.[21] He was placed on injured reserve on October 3, 2020 with an elbow injury.[22] He was activated on October 24.[23]

NFL career statistics

Regular season
SeasonTeamGamesTackles
GPGSTotalSoloAstSckInt
2012GB 140121202.00
2013GB 161231766.50
2014GB 16164129125.50
2015GB 16164927224.01
2016GB 1616332584.00
2017GB 14144934155.00
2018GB 109181082.00
2019 DET 9 2 10 6 4 1.0 0
2020 CIN 11 11 17 7 10 0.0 0
Total 122852521678530.01
Source: NFL.com

Postseason
SeasonTeamGamesTackles
GPGSTotalSoloAstSckInt
2012GB 2032100
2013GB 115321.00
2014GB 226150.50
2015GB 223211.00
2016GB 33109100
Total1082717102.50
Source: pro-football-reference.com

Personal life

Daniels is the older brother of Sean Daniels. He has been noted for his interest in anime.[24]

References
  1. "Mike Daniels – Iowa,DT: 2012 NFL Draft". NFLDraftscout.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  2. "Mike Daniels Mobile Profile". ESPN Mobile. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  3. "Mike Daniels". Iowa University. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  4. "Mike Daniels". Scout.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  5. Juliano, Joe. "Why didn't anyone know about this Mike Daniels guy?". The Gazette. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  6. "Drive Chart". ESPN. September 6, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  7. Logue, Andrew (September 27, 2010). "Daniels earns player of the week honors". Iowa City Press-Citizen & The Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  8. "Big Ten Announces 2010 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors". Big Ten. November 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  9. "More Hawkeyes earn preseason honors". Iowa City Press-Citizen & The Des Moines Register. UI Sports Information. June 8, 2011. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  10. "PHIL STEELE'S 2011 PRESEASON AWARDS" (PDF) (Press release). Phil Steele Publications. May 28, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  11. "Mike Daniels". National Football League. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  12. Dunne, Talor (April 28, 2012). "DT Daniels another athlete up front". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  13. "Packers ink Mike Daniels to a four-year extension". National Football League. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  14. "'Top 100 Players of 2016': No. 95 Mike Daniels". NFL.com.
  15. "'Top 100 Players of 2017': No. 84 Mike Daniels". NFL.com.
  16. "#93: Mike Daniels (DE, Packers) | Top 100 Players of 2018 | NFL". April 30, 2018 – via YouTube.
  17. "Packers activate Jake Kumerow to 53-man roster". Packers.com. December 1, 2018.
  18. "Packers release DL Mike Daniels". Packers.com. July 24, 2019.
  19. Bergman, Jeremy (July 25, 2019). "Lions finalizing deal with ex-Packers DL Mike Daniels". NFL.com.
  20. "Lions acquire G Caleb Benenoch via waivers from Dallas Cowboys". DetroitLions.com. December 16, 2019.
  21. "Bengals Sign Defensive Tackle Mike Daniels". Bengals.com. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  22. "Bengals Make Four Player Moves Ahead Of Week 4 Matchup Versus Jacksonville". Bengals.com. October 3, 2020.
  23. Williams, Charean (October 24, 2020). "Bengals activate Mike Daniels from injured reserve". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  24. EDT, Phillip Martinez On 8/2/18 at 4:08 PM (August 2, 2018). "Green Bay Packers star Mike Daniels talks his love of anime in new documentary". Newsweek.
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