The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June and next up is their annual training camp, which gets underway in late July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow.
The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers 2023 training camp are Mason Cole, Dylan Cook, and James Daniels.
C Mason Cole: The Steelers signed Cole to a three-year, $15.75 million free agent contract in March 2022. Cole, as a whole, played much better than expected in his first season as the Steelers’ center, which included him playing in all 17 games and 96 percent of all offensive snaps. For the season, Cole allowed two sacks, four quarterback hits and 15 hurries in 605 pass protecting opportunities, according to Pro Football Focus.
He was flagged just once in 2022 and that was for illegal use of hands. Cole finished the 2022 season with a 66.5 running blocking grade from PFF to go along with a 63.8 pass blocking grade. His combined grade for 2022 was 67.1, which put him 12th overall for NFL centers that played 50 percent of their team’s offensive snaps.
Outlook: Cole entered this offseason as the Steelers’ unquestioned starter at center for the 2023 season. He has a great rapport with quarterback Kenny Pickett and should also be surrounded by better talent on the offensive line thanks to the upgrades the Steelers have made to that unit this offseason. With this being Cole’s second season playing for offensive line coach Pat Meyer, the hope is that 2023 will wind up being his best NFL season to date, which could result him being one of the NFL’s top 10 centers.
However, should Cole decline in 2023, it could wind up being his last season in Pittsburgh. The Steelers need Cole to be healthy and productive in 2023 as there’s not much behind him on the depth chart at the center position.
T Dylan Cook: The Steelers signed Cook to a one-year contract in May. A Montana product, Cook entered the NFL in 2022 as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Buccaneers. He spent most of the 2022 season on the Buccaneers’ practice squad and has yet to play an NFL snap. Cook has okay overall measurables. At his 2022 Pro Day, he measured in at 6064, 308-pounds with 33 1/2-inch arms and 9 3/8-inch hands.
In the three preseason games that he played last season with the Buccaneers, 73 total offensive snaps, he looked to be a better pass protector than a run blocker. All of those snaps came at left tackle. It’s worth noting that he mostly played right tackle in college.
Outlook: The Steelers focused heavily on addressing their offensive line this offseason and thus barring several injuries at the tackle position moving forward into the summer, Cook will be battling for a practice squad spot once the team’s training camp gets underway. The fact that Cook was able to last most of the 2022 season on the Buccaneers’ practice squad is somewhat encouraging overall. Even so, Cook’s upside probably isn’t all that great at this point and he’s a tackle likely best suited to play only on the right side. He might see action at both tackle spots during the preseason, however.
G James Daniels: The Steelers signed Daniels to a three-year, $26.5 million free agent contract in March 2022 and he was the team’s starting right guard for the 2022 season. Daniels impressively played every offensive snap in 2022 and was easily one the team’s top two offensive linemen for the season. According to Pro Football Focus, James didn’t allow a sack in 2022 but did give up three quarterback hits and 17 total hurries. He was flagged five times in total in 2022 with two of those being ineligible downfield on passing plays. Daniels now enters his sixth NFL season, and he won’t turn 26 years of age until September.
Outlook: Like Cole, 2023 will be Daniels’ second season in Pittsburgh and that hopefully bodes well for the veteran guard. Daniels should have familiar linemates on both sides in 2023 with Cole at center and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. Daniels’ run blocking in 2022 wasn’t as good as most hoped it would be and with the Steelers’ offense expected to be heavily dependent on the ground game in 2023, it’s imperative that the veteran guard gets that phase of his game back to where it was a few seasons ago.
Daniels has the potential to be a top 7 or 8 right guard in the NFL and the Steelers offense should benefit greatly in 2023 if he’s able to achieve such a status without question.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Montravius Adams, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Austin III
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Luq Barcoo, Keeanu Benton, Chris Boswell
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Miles Boykin, Ja’Marcus Bradley, Hakeem Butler
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Jordan Byrd, Dan Chisena, Le’Raven Clark
