B.J. Daniels is a renaissance man, at least in football terms.
Quarterback. Receiver. Defensive back. Special teamer.
And now he's a Houston Texan.
Signed off the Seattle practice squad, the Texans added the versatile third-year pro to help in a lot of different ways.
"We're going to train him to play quarterback, but we're also going to do some things with him as a receiver," head coach Bill O'Brien said on Monday. "We're not going to try to put too much on his plate."
Starter Brian Hoyer remains in the concussion protocol, backup T.J. Yates was placed on injured reserve
with a torn ACL, which meant Brandon Weeden was the lone quarterback available to practice and play.
Cornerback Charles James, II, has dabbled in defensive, offensive and special teams roles as well, and he has a history with Daniels. The two faced each other when James was at Charleston Southern and Daniels was under center for South Florida. James is a big fan of Daniels.
"He's going to fit into the locker room well," James said. "Hopefully he brings us explosive parts on Sunday."
James said that in addition to throwing and catching the ball, the newest Texan "has even lined up at DB before".
Daniels played in six games this season for the Seahawks, with two catches for 18 yards and a punt return for seven yards. But in his collegiate career, he tossed 52 touchdown passes and ran for 25 more.
"He can do a lot of different things," O'Brien said. "In Seattle, he could play a little bit of quarterback. Do some things there. He can play in the slot. He can play on special teams. That's a good guy to have on your team."
The Texans head coach said Daniels is a bit like Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who was also a quarterback in college.
"There's some similarities there," O'Brien said Monday evening on his weekly radio show. "When Julian came into New England, that was an unbelievable story. I remember Bill (Belichick) throwing the tape on my desk like, 'Okay, watch this tape on this kid' and telling me 'Look, this guy's not a quarterback, so don't tell me what he is as a quarterback.' Tell me what else he can do."
After arriving in Houston yesterday morning, O'Brien said Daniels got right to work and was in meetings with offensive coordinator George Godsey and the rest of the coaches and players. The head coach detailed what will be expected of Daniels.
"It'd be more like packages and then we'll see how it goes throughout the week whether he's up for the game day," O'Brien said. "Again, a lot of that has to do with Brian and things like that, but we're going to ask him to kind of dive right in here."
Even though Daniels was immersed quickly, James has no doubts about his ability to contribute.
"He'll be able to do it," James said. "He'll adapt quick."
Daniels and the Texans are off on Tuesday, but will practice again on Wednesday and Thursday.
Kickoff against the Titans is set for noon CT on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
[
