Kevin Dodd talk - Does he make the team?

[Titans fan 617]

I don't see them cutting Dodd. Let's see if he ramps it up in the regular season. He could still be fighting through the mental part of the injury but I think he makes the team 

[ttitansfan4life]

3 hours ago, Titan89 said:

I agree Dodd has not shown up as much as he needs to. However, I don't see the Titans giving up on what was a top of the 2nd round draft pick who plays a very important position.

I think we can get creative with Dodd and make him effective. Keep in mind while Wallace to me has been very impressive and Carraway has been too, neither has played starters really where as Dodd has.

I would like to see the next game us give some time to Wallace and Carraway with the ones if we get a chance or at least be the first ones off the bench. To me Dodd if I was the Titans he needs to get pretty much a full game as they need to fully evaluate him.

I agree the players who play best should stick on the team but I just don't see the Titans giving up on such a high draft pick when this is really his first healthy year with us. I think Dodd can be effective but I do think he is better with his hand down at present.

Dodd also played against 2nd and 3rd stringers at times and showed nothing.

[Titan89]

2 hours ago, ttitansfan4life said:

Dodd also played against 2nd and 3rd stringers at times and showed nothing.

While this is also true and I agree Dodd has not shown much I still don't see how he doesn't make this team. Wallace and Carraway were both late round picks I would love to believe we hit on both of them but I would also like to think that Dodd was drafted so high for a reason and will show why for the Titans.

I agree based on performance he has been outperformed, I just don't see him being cut after one year he was drafted and is finally healthy.

[Titans fan 617]

I will say he missed some preseason last year if I remember correctly and started week 2 and got a sack so he does have it in him to be effective but I guess the question is can he do it consistently 

[Andrei01]

9 hours ago, Titan89 said:

I agree Dodd has not shown up as much as he needs to. However, I don't see the Titans giving up on what was a top of the 2nd round draft pick who plays a very important position.

I think we can get creative with Dodd and make him effective. Keep in mind while Wallace to me has been very impressive and Carraway has been too, neither has played starters really where as Dodd has.

I would like to see the next game us give some time to Wallace and Carraway with the ones if we get a chance or at least be the first ones off the bench. To me Dodd if I was the Titans he needs to get pretty much a full game as they need to fully evaluate him.

I agree the players who play best should stick on the team but I just don't see the Titans giving up on such a high draft pick when this is really his first healthy year with us. I think Dodd can be effective but I do think he is better with his hand down at present.

I know this is somehow different because he was a pick of the former regime, but DGB can still be an example that they don't shy away from letting high picks in the Draft go when they don't feel they're getting what they should out of them. I might also remember it wrong, but wasn't Mularkey hinting at Dodd last year (and Wright too) that he was overplaying his injury?

With a good depth veteran in Walden and two interesting young guys in Wallace and Carraway, I wouldn't be so sure Dodd's job is safe, unless he looks to do better.

[Titan89]

15 hours ago, Andrei01 said:

I know this is somehow different because he was a pick of the former regime, but DGB can still be an example that they don't shy away from letting high picks in the Draft go when they don't feel they're getting what they should out of them. I might also remember it wrong, but wasn't Mularkey hinting at Dodd last year (and Wright too) that he was overplaying his injury?

With a good depth veteran in Walden and two interesting young guys in Wallace and Carraway, I wouldn't be so sure Dodd's job is safe, unless he looks to do better.

This is a good point as you are right they did jettison DGB. However, in my opinion a pass rusher OLB especially in a 3-4 scheme is a more important position than a WR. You can never have too many good pass rushers as it is game changing.

Dodd could end up getting cut, I don't want either Wallace or Carraway to not make the team because of Dodd's draft status. In the end though I see Dodd making the final 53 because I think he is the most similar OLB we have to Morgan. Morgan as well was only 4-3 and has turned out pretty good. Dodd I feel makes this team and frankly I would not be shocked if we kept Wallace and Carraway on the final 53. It means though that somewhere else would take a cut.

If we only keep three OLBs outside of Orakpo and Morgan, then I think it is Walden, Dodd and Wallace with Carraway on the PS.

[Justin615$]

I always just keep getting impressed by Aaron Wallace every time I watch him.

I was always confused by the Dodd pick. IMO he is strictly a 4-3 end.

[Andrei01]

4 hours ago, Titan89 said:

This is a good point as you are right they did jettison DGB. However, in my opinion a pass rusher OLB especially in a 3-4 scheme is a more important position than a WR. You can never have too many good pass rushers as it is game changing.

Dodd could end up getting cut, I don't want either Wallace or Carraway to not make the team because of Dodd's draft status. In the end though I see Dodd making the final 53 because I think he is the most similar OLB we have to Morgan. Morgan as well was only 4-3 and has turned out pretty good. Dodd I feel makes this team and frankly I would not be shocked if we kept Wallace and Carraway on the final 53. It means though that somewhere else would take a cut.

If we only keep three OLBs outside of Orakpo and Morgan, then I think it is Walden, Dodd and Wallace with Carraway on the PS.

Isn't Carraway also playing ST? If it comes down to them being too close as far as progress goes (also considering Dodd is still a second year player, Carraway a rookie), that could count for something. Also, while I don't necessarily think either the OLB position is more important than a WR or vice versa, it's worth noticing that DGB was projected and expected (at least in the outside world) to be our #1 WR before getting traded. Dodd for now, at least, is only depth at best.

2 hours ago, Justin615$ said:

I always just keep getting impressed by Aaron Wallace every time I watch him.

I was always confused by the Dodd pick. IMO he is strictly a 4-3 end.

I don't think this is as big of an issue, actually. For once, it's true as Titan89 mentioned above that Morgan turned out quite good from a former 4-3 DE himself, also Casey wasn't supposed to have the length to play 5-tech and he turned out great. Players have been switching to different schemes and different positions well in the past. Furthermore, I could be wrong on this and if there's a way to check (like maybe PFF snap counts/stats, if someone has access to them) I'd like some numbers to back it up, but I'm fairly confident both Morgan and Orakpo have played plenty with their hands in the dirt last year. For what it's worth, I just looked it up, and Dodd's only sack against DET had him play DE. It's common even for 3-4 teams to go with 4-man fronts when they're in nickel (which is more and more often in today's league), so there are opportunities for him to play more to his natural position, if that'd be the only thing holding him back.

[titans0021]

1 hour ago, Andrei01 said:

Morgan turned out quite good from a former 4-3 DE himself, also Casey wasn't supposed to have the length to play 5-tech and he turned out great.

There's just a big difference between these two and Dodd though. Morgan had the athleticism to play 3-4 OLB, even if he always looked like more of an end. Casey is such a freak athlete that he could play across the defensive line in virtually any scheme. Dodd's a bad athlete, which is why he he's so limited.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2017081951/2017/PRE2/panthers@titans#menu=gameinfo|contentId%3A0ap3000000831819&tab=videos

He's just not fluid and doesn't have the quickness to ever play in coverage. Armah is not an overly fast guy (ran a 4.7 at his pro day) and he just coasts past Dodd in the flat.

We can all keep talking about how Dodd plays a valuable position, but it's not a valuable position if you can't actually play it. I mean, yes, he can play with his hand in the ground when we move to a 4-man front, but has he really shown that he's better at that than Wallace? Or Walden? I honestly think his only hope at a real NFL future is as a 5-tech. He doesn't have the burst off the edge to be an effective pass-rusher in a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme.

[Titan89]

16 minutes ago, titans0021 said:

There's just a big difference between these two and Dodd though. Morgan had the athleticism to play 3-4 OLB, even if he always looked like more of an end. Casey is such a freak athlete that he could play across the defensive line in virtually any scheme. Dodd's a bad athlete, which is why he he's so limited.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2017081951/2017/PRE2/panthers@titans#menu=gameinfo|contentId%3A0ap3000000831819&tab=videos

He's just not fluid and doesn't have the quickness to ever play in coverage. Armah is not an overly fast guy (ran a 4.7 at his pro day) and he just coasts past Dodd in the flat.

We can all keep talking about how Dodd plays a valuable position, but it's not a valuable position if you can't actually play it. I mean, yes, he can play with his hand in the ground when we move to a 4-man front, but has he really shown that he's better at that than Wallace? Or Walden? I honestly think his only hope at a real NFL future is as a 5-tech. He doesn't have the burst off the edge to be an effective pass-rusher in a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme.

I think Dodd and Morgan are actually quite comparable as players. Dodd I believe is a fair bit heavier than Morgan at present and I think he still needs to drop some weight to help with the speed issue.

It could be Dodd does get cut if he is deemed not a fit. I just think that he was drafted top of the 2nd round last year by our GM who has a clear vision for the team. The defense scheme wise is the same as last year so he must have thought he would fit somewhere. I don't think they are ready to give up on Dodd yet.

Dodd for sure has not shown much so far not arguing that. I don't see him getting cut though.

Wallace to me definitely needs a spot on the final 53. Carraway to me is not as sure a thing on the 53.

[titans0021]

4 minutes ago, Titan89 said:

It could be Dodd does get cut if he is deemed not a fit. I just think that he was drafted top of the 2nd round last year by our GM who has a clear vision for the team. The defense scheme wise is the same as last year so he must have thought he would fit somewhere. I don't think they are ready to give up on Dodd yet.

For all of my problems with Dodd, I do agree with this. I don't see J-Rob giving up on a guy that he spent the 33rd pick on just last year. Particularly with the built in injury excuse. But I didn't love the pick then and I'm still just left not understanding the fit.

I do get that he's bigger than Morgan, but what probably still most confuses me is why they haven't had him working on shedding some weight. With his athleticism and skillset, he just can't play 3-4 OLB at 280 pounds. Yet either the team hasn't told him to try to get down to 260-270, or he simply hasn't put the work in to get down to a place where he has a real chance at success in the scheme.

[titans0021]

I should have done this earlier. Since the post-game talk thread has mostly just moved to Kevin Dodd talk, I'm going to move those posts into this topic, since we'll likely have plenty of discussion about Dodd leading into cut day.

[KingTitan]

I think he makes the team, even though other guys have made more plays in the preseason games.  Not sure how he is looking at practice consistently. 
I don't see Robinson giving up on a borderline 1st round pick after one season.  Especially after he picked him.  I think if Dodd was a lazy and wasn't a hard worker, then he'd be gone. But I don't hear any reports of that being the case. 

 

 

[Titan89]

17 hours ago, titans0021 said:

For all of my problems with Dodd, I do agree with this. I don't see J-Rob giving up on a guy that he spent the 33rd pick on just last year. Particularly with the built in injury excuse. But I didn't love the pick then and I'm still just left not understanding the fit.

I do get that he's bigger than Morgan, but what probably still most confuses me is why they haven't had him working on shedding some weight. With his athleticism and skillset, he just can't play 3-4 OLB at 280 pounds. Yet either the team hasn't told him to try to get down to 260-270, or he simply hasn't put the work in to get down to a place where he has a real chance at success in the scheme.

I agree it is odd he hasn't shed some weight. Maybe their plan is to kick him inside with four man fronts with his hand in the dirt on obvious passing downs. I thought that was what Klug's main role was though. I am more then anything just curious what they envision Dodd's role as right now. To me he does not seem ready to be an 3-4 OLB at present. He needs to shed some weight for that. So only thing I can think of is he fills in for Morgan in case of injury or if we don't retain Morgan when his contract is up and spends lots of time working on his craft. That or he is going to go out on some downs with his hand in the dirt.

With how deep the DL group is though with guys like Johnson, Blackson and Klug I just am not entirely sure when he would see time. Either way I think we can all agree Dodd needs to show more and maybe once he drops some weight or fully gets over the mental aspect of the injury (as that can throw players off) he will show why he was such a high pick.

[ragevsuall17]

Personally, I don't think he gets cut. He may get traded, but even that's a stretch this early into his career. Comparing him to DGB is not an apples to apples comparison... As KT mentioned, he's essentially a 1st round pick entering his 2nd year after injuries derailed season 1. JRob isn't going to give up on one of his "big ticket" guys after one year.