With Mason McCormick, James Daniels knows the Pittsburgh Steelers may have drafted his replacement for next season. That doesn’t stop him from eagerly showing the ropes to the rookie, offering him some praise on Tuesday.
“He’s been doing great so far”, Daniels said of McCormick, via the team’s website. “He’s always asking questions. Always asking Isaac [Seumalo] questions or always asking me questions. As a young rookie, he’s always making sure we’re watching his reps and coaching him on everything he can do. He’s been doing a good job”.
The funny thing is, Mason McCormick is only three years younger than James Daniels, so not exactly a “young” rookie. Daniels is turning 27 shortly, while McCormick is already 24 following a long career at South Dakota State.
Mason McCormick is just the school’s 16th-ever draft selection, and the fifth-highest. The Jackrabbits have only produced one first-round pick before, 1975’s Lynn Boden—an offensive lineman. Their most notable alumnus in the NFL is TE Dallas Goedert, now in his seventh season with the Eagles.
As for Daniels, unlike McCormick, he came out of school young. He turned 21 years old in September of his rookie season in 2018 after three seasons at Iowa. With six seasons already under his belt, he is still 26 years old as I write this.
The Steelers signed Daniels to a big free-agent contract in 2022, but they drafted McCormick in part because that contract is drawing to its conclusion. According to Daniels himself, the Steelers do not plan to extend him, likely hoping they can replace him cheaply.
To that end, they are giving McCormick and Spencer Anderson heavy first-team guard work, Daniels usually playing while Seumalo rests. Seumalo is the old man of the offensive line, so I’m sure he doesn’t mind too much.
McCormick is one of three offensive linemen the Steelers drafted in April. They also drafted Troy Fautanu in the first round and Zach Frazier in the second, both of whom should start this season. If all goes according to “plan”, all three could be starting in 2025, with Daniels cashing in during free agency. The Steelers will surely hope to fetch a third-round compensatory pick for their troubles.
Alternatively, and hopefully overnight news doesn’t make this part irrelevant, the Steelers could consider dealing James Daniels to the San Francisco 49ers as part of a trade for WR Brandon Aiyuk if they like enough of what they have seen from Mason McCormick and company. That is certainly an idea that has been out there for a while.
Even Steelers president Art Rooney II recently praised McCormick, calling him a throwback player. He does have the look of a lineman who could have played with Mike Webster 50 years ago, it’s true. But Daniels has been no slouch, and to his credit, he has been all in on this season with the Steelers.
