With the 33rd Pick of the 2016 Draft: Clemson DE Kevin Dodd

you aint lying, I was on pins and needles with every pick Henry wasnt picked holding out hope we could come back and get him

then it happened, damn near cried

 

I thought Dodd was a misfit for the 3-4 system, but figured we saw him as the guy who would come in when we went to a 4DL pass rush scheme.

He still might be that guy and maybe he can transition to a true 3-4 OLBer. The injury has certainly stunted his growth. It isn't easy to move from a 4-3 DE to a 3-4 OLBer. I haven't given up on Dodd for his career, but don't expect much from him the rest of this yr.

 

I still think Dodd will fit in nice at OLB. No reason to give up on him yet. He isn't being lazy or anything. I think he is just being cautious in practice because his foot is still bothering him

 

There really hasn't been much at all positive about the #32 pick. He had an apparently undisclosed/undiscovered chronic injury that required surgery, he hasn't done much in the couple of games they put him in, he did zilch for games after that, he's been a healthy scratch LATE in the season and the head coach is complaining about his effort in practice.

It is his rookie year but you've got other rookies taken later producing. You don't draft depth at #32. Sorry- you just don't. I guarantee you Dodd was expected to produce THIS year. He'll get another off-season to show his merit and live up to what JRob drafted him to be. We'll just have to wait it out. But from everything I've seen from him so far, I'm not betting on him to come close to producing at a level that was worth that #32 pick. I hope JRob does better next year with those early round picks.

 

Mularkey disagrees.

 

I wouldnt ever have thought Kevin Dodd was a 3-4 LB, so when we picked him I was confused. But he is a good DE IMO so I liked the pick.

To me the guy is a DE 100%, even in the 3-4.

 

Some of you were amazed about his sacks, but remember he had Lawson on the other side of the line flushing the QB his way. Side note: I had much rather have Lawson.

WEAKNESSES
Has just one year of full-time experience under his belt and was able to feast on some lesser tackles. Hand usage is still a work in progress. Too willing to take on blocks with a lowered helmet or allowing blocks into his frame rather than controlling the rep with his natural hand strength. Uses same hand swipe at the top of his rush and would benefit from greater diversity of approach. Still learning to consistently unlock his top play speed. Gets in a hurry to attack in space quarterbacks and running backs in space lunging after them rather than striking from balanced base.

 

All of that says not a OLB!

 

This was my issue the entire time with the pick. He's a 4-3 DE, too big at 277 to play OLB IMO. Not sure how well a 277 pound dude can fair when dropping in coverage.

If we had to, we could go back to a 4-3 with relative ease I think. The only player that doesn't fit is Orakpo and he could probably play 4-3 DE easier than Dodd could play 3-4 OLB.

 

IIRC Rak was a 43 DE at one time in his career, so hed be fine IMO

Williamson is probably the odd man out if we converted back to a 4-3, then of course what to do with LeBeau