Chargers 90-in-90: OG Dan Feeney

A native of Orland Park, Illinois, Dan Feeney attended Carl Sandburg High School where he excelled on either side of the trenches. As an offensive and defensive tackle, Feeney was named to a plethora of postseason squads. Those included the Southtown Star, Regional News, and Orland Park All-Area teams.

As a senior, he was also tabbed as a First-Team All-Conference member and a Second-Team All-State performer.

Feeney wasted no time at all after arriving in Bloomington, Indiana. As a true freshman, he started all 12 games at right guard and allowed zero sacks on the year. His play earned him Freshman All-American honors by Scout.com as well as an All-Rookie nomination in the Big Ten. Prior to the 2013 season, Feeney was unfortunately struck with some bad luck in the form of a preseason injury that took away his entire sophomore season. He came back strong the following year starting every game once again at right guard and allowed just a single sack. He repeated an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten nod like he did as a freshman and took home the team’s Hoosier Iron Award for Outstanding Weight Room Performance.

His best season came in 2015 when he started all 13 games as team captain and once again allowed zero sacks on the year. That earned him First-Team All-American honors by ESPN, as well as from the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and CBS Sports.

Feeney only played in nine games as a senior. due to injury, but he still started them all. However, due to injury elsewhere, he split his starts between four at right guard and five at right tackle. Even in a less-than-full season, Feeney was again named an All-American and member of the First-Team All-Big Ten squad.

After performing admirably at the Reese’s Senior Bowl against the country’s top competition, Feeney attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He ran his forty in 5.24 seconds, bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times, and vertical jumped 28 inches.

Feeney was eventually selected in the third round of the 2017 draft by the Chargers with the 71st-overall pick.

As a rookie, Feeney played in 15 games while starting nine after left guard Matt Slauson was lost for the season. His play earned him a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team.

Over the next two seasons, Feeney has started all 32 games, including the team’s two playoff games and a handful of starts at center after Mike Pouncey went down last year.

Basic Info

Height: 6’4
Weight: 310
College: Indiana
Experience: 3
Years with team: 3

Contract Status

“Dan Feeney signed a 4 year, $3,731,632 contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, including a $924,632 signing bonus, $924,632 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $932,908. In 2020, Feeney will earn a base salary of $2,133,000, while carrying a cap hit of $2,364,158 and a dead cap value of $231,158.” - Spotrac.com

The Good

Feeney was a two-time All-American for the Hoosiers that showed position flexibility coming out of Indiana. In the NFL, he’s shown the same versatility seeing snaps at center last year after playing the rest of his snaps at left guard.

He’s an intelligent guy that knows the offense inside-and-out. He’s retained his job based on his reliability in knowing how to handle all possible situations and that goes a long way with this coaching staff, regardless if you don’t necessarily get the job done one a consistent basis. He’s also surprisingly mobile out in space which is also another reason why the Chargers have loved to utilize him as a lead-blocker in their power-heavy run scheme.

The Bad

Feeney started his career off on the right note when he was slotted into the lineup following that injury to Slauson back in 2017. However, after earning the PFWA selection to their All-Rookie team, Feeney hasn’t shown many signs of progression over the last two seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, Feeney was at the very bottom among qualifying offensive guards in 2018 and wasn’t much better this past season. During the team’s contest against the Titans last season, Feeney earned an overall grade that was less than 10.0. As a reminder, a grade of 70.0 for PFF is considered “average.”

He struggles mightily with pure power and that’s a tough draw when this team faces Chris Jones and the Chiefs twice a year. Add in the Broncos trading for Jurrell Casey and there’s another dominating interior presence to worry about in 2020.

Odds of making the roster/What to expect in 2020?

Feeney has been this team’s starting left guard since his rookie season and I don’t see anything taking the job away from him other than a monstrous and miraculous training camp performance by Forrest Lamp. He knows the offense and makes helps make some calls at the line of scrimmage with Mike Pouncey. Feeney is in charge of the team’s silent count, as well (that’s the motion he does with his arm before every play).