Film Review: DaVaris Daniels

Chicagoland athlete and fresh commit DaVaris Daniels is a do-it-all high schooler who will almost surely play receiver at ND.

According to Scout.com, he’s 6-2 with a 41-inch vertical. While his junior film doesn’t fully showcase that vertical, he looks all of 6-2 and possibly larger. These measurables are Daniels’ greatest strengths, and they allowed him to pick up yards as a QB receiving shotgun snaps in a run-first spread. He’s a long strider with similar speed but purer running form than Michael Floyd. Daniels showed smooth cuts for his size on a punt return 4:04 into his junior tape:




Daniels’ most glaring weaknesses result from not being an every-down WR and from playing relatively weak competition. Extrapolating from highlights how the team’s offense works in a game, the scheme doesn’t ask him to block as a WR because when he’s in as a WR, they’re throwing and probably to him. Fortunately, Daniels’ strong frame gives him the potential to overcome this weakness in college. His inability to protect the football is also a concern. Daniels holds the ball far away from his body, and on the last-minute, game-winning score featured in the first three minutes of the film, he was fortunate his unnecessary fumble stayed in the endzone for him to fall on it.

I don’t think anybody can be called a possession receiver in Kelly’s offense, but he fits this scheme similar to slightly bigger but less athletic Armon Binns of Cincinnati. Daniels’ frame also at least opens the door for him to play defense, but I expect Kelly to use him solely as an outside receiver. While he isn’t polished now because he’s not an every-down receiver, rarely leaving the field for Vernon Hills might keep Daniels in good enough shape to handle the Kelly work volume right away. Even so, Daniels will need time getting fully acquainted with the receiver position before Kelly is comfortable playing him.