Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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in "The Zone." "I made one play here, a couple of plays later another one, and it kind of kept go- ing," Daniels said. "I guess it's kind of the groove, you get a good feeling, and you just kind of roll with it." "He got confidence," Kelly said of Dan- tackles with 62 sacks) and the current direc- tor of player development for the Washing- ton Redskins. The elder Daniels also was a 205-pound COME A LOT EASIER, AND I CAN JUST RELY ON MY PLAYMAKING SKILLS AND NATURAL ABILITY TO DO CERTAIN THINGS INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT STUFF AND GOING THROUGH ALL KIND OF PROCESSES IN MY HEAD BEFORE THE PLAY GOES ON." DAVARIS DANIELS "NOW THAT I'VE GOT A YEAR UNDER MY BELT, IT'S DEFINITELY iels' impact in that practice after getting ripped a couple days earlier. "He made a couple of plays — once you make a couple of plays, that's the igniter. Then he made a ton of plays. We know it's there. Now we've got to get it from him. We feel really good about going into the summer as it relates to Daniels." Daniels caught two passes in the Blue- Gold Game, a 29-yard fade over his shoul- der from Tommy Rees and an 18-yard bullet across the middle from Andrew Hendrix. All-American tight end Tyler Eifert and slot/running back Theo Riddick (eight catches in the Blue-Gold Game) are ex- pected to be the prime targets, but they should provide Daniels and Jones plenty of opportunities to make plays by drawing defensive attention. February 2011, Daniels was listed at 175 pounds. After his first full season of weight room work and no basketball duties, he is up to 190 and would like to gradually get to 200. His father is Phil Daniels, an NFL de- fensive lineman from 1996-2010 (329 career When he signed with Notre Dame in three-sport star in high school — including quarterback — before becoming a chiseled 300-pound lineman at the University of Georgia and in the NFL. weight. That's why he's so fast." "You would think I wouldn't have any "His metabo- lism is on 'blast' all day," Phil Daniels said of his son. "He eats everything, and still can't gain trouble with [weight] if you look at him," DaVaris noted. "I've always had an issue with gaining weight." However, now that he is involved only in football, the chances are much better for physical growth. Phillip Daniels believes 210 pounds would be the optimal weight for his son by the end of his college career, with 200 a possibility this year. "I could probably put on a little bit more weight before the season," the younger Daniels admitted. More than anything, he's eager to see game action after having served his appren- ticeship last year. "It was very difficult," he said of not play- ing. "Every freshman wants to come in and play right away. When you hear about how good you are, you want to show everybody what you can do. thing for me, just to learn from guys like Mike [Floyd], [Robby] Toma and TJ. I think that helped my situation." ✦ "In the end, it turned out to be the best JUNE/JULY 2012 62