Michael Danna brings maximum hustle, versatility to Chiefs defense

Weakness: Escaping blocks

We are going back to the Iowa tape because there is so much to learn from this game. Danna does great when he either goes unblocked or beats the guard around the bend, but when a lineman gets his hands on Danna, he struggles to affect the play.

Occasionally, Danna will put his strength and build on display and manhandle the lineman, pushing him back into the pocket or tossing him away, but mostly, Danna gets driven back or taken away from the play. The fourth play of the tape above shows that, with Danna being manhandled and moved away from the play while the running back bowls forward for a nice gain.

Same on the fifth play, where instead of utilizing his bend and beating that guard around the edge, he gets caught and is kept out of the pocket while Stanley takes his time and throws a great pass. Sixth play, the lineman steps forward, redirects and stops Danna and creates a seam that should have allowed the running back to get a clean run.

The ninth play shows Danna using his bend along with a great blitz scheme to get after the quarterback. Unfortunately, Danna is caught in a block by a smart guard and is stopped dead in his tracks and his blitz is ineffective. Again, sometimes he just figures it out, and uses his muscular build and keeps driving his feet and destroys a lineman, like the eighth play of this film, but that is an exception.

Weakness: Inconsistency

Watching Danna play is like watching two different players play. One play he will explode off the line and get past the guard into the backfield. The next he will run the flattest edge rush and get manhandled by a tackle who fell back to pick him up. One play he will use his strength to push through a double team and get in the quarterback’s face; the next he is getting driven out of bounds by a lineman on a trap.

His motor is non-stop and his tackling is consistent, but his burst isn’t always present and the results are too inconsistent. Watch his play at 5:38, where he is slow and sluggish despite being unblocked, then 9:40 where Danna uses his speed and a blitz scheme to catch a lineman off guard. At 11:22, he explodes off the line and uses his strength to drive that lineman back and has to be picked up by the running back, causing the rest of the defensive line to get in the quarterbacks face and force and interception. At 14:20, however, he is immediately taken out of the play by being slow off the line and being caught going outside while the running back goes inside.

Inconsistency is a huge problem of Danna’s game, and when on an NFL field, it will absolutely find you a spot on the bench, if not the practice squad.

The Verdict:

Michael Danna shows off some explosiveness and strength on occasion, making quarterbacks feel his presence despite extremely low sack numbers. He can shoot the gaps at times and his effort will keep him chasing after the play until the whistle blows. When he runs flat from the edge spot, he could use his explosiveness to push the QB into Frank Clark‘s domain and hopefully force a deep sack.

His inconsistency is the biggest question mark when it comes to Danna’s future in the NFL, but hopefully with proper coaching and direction, he can make his presence felt in the NFL.