Are Sims or Reed Poised for a Breakout Season?

Well not much was successful before J-Rob. lol

I just think J-Rob adhered too much to his strategy of drafting in the 2nd round. I think it works great in the later rounds, but you've got to focus on talent early. Henry was the only talented guy we drafted out of the three, and he was the only one that had a good year.

 

Eh, I think Dodd was highly touted as an extremely talented guy, but was a bit of a risk as 1 year wonder. With that said, I really liked what I saw from him in limited action. I remember one play against the Colts where he single handedly obliterated his man, ran him back into Luck and forced a bad pass to a wide open receiver that would have been an easy TD. He has a ton of talent, just need him to stay healthy.

I still question the Austin Johnson pick though. And the Sly Williams signing. I wonder if that's JRob's one weak spot is evaluating NT's? Or maybe he's just looking for them to do one or two things in particular. No idea, but would love to hear his thoughts on what he wants NT's to do in our system.

 

Just because he has one good play doesn't make him good. He was awful this year. He was touted so highly mostly because of his production on a National Championship level team next to Shaq Lawson. He lacks so many skills, it almost makes you wonder how the hell he even had production to begin with and then you see the plays and it becomes pretty obvious. Not to mention, he's a terrible fit as a 3-4 OLB, and only has any success in nickel/dime packages.

Not a good 34th overall pick at all. I don't mind the AJ pick as much. He probably won't ever be good, but at least I think he can start. Just not as well as the people we passed up on. Sly will be a nice addition though. We need some added pass-rush and Sly gives us that.

 

His career so far, size, draft position, skills, and so on, is all extremely similar to Derrick Morgan. Morgan did virtually nothing his first season, and it really took him 3 seasons before he came into his own. And he wasn't the only one from that draft either. Brandon Graham didn't play much at all his first two years in the league before figuring things out. Most pass rushers don't burst onto the scene and become stars year 1.

To give up on Dodd this early is just ridiculous. I saw a lot of other flashes of talent from him, but he missed a lot of camp and then ended up with the injury to shorten his rookie year. If he can stay healthy all offseason I could see him being a good rotational piece this year, and us groom him to take over for Rak or Morgan.

The big question to me isn't talent, it's health and if he can put in the time to work on his craft of becoming a very good pass rusher.

 

Good post. Criticizing a 2nd round rookie is beyond ridiculous, and indicative of someone who has never followed a successful team and just sees the few guys from that round and beyond who happen to have good first season and think that's the norm and develop unrealistic expectations .

Unless they are huge reaches due to athletic limitations, or guys like Dion Jordan or Justin Blackmon who are mentally unprepared and weren't properly vetted by the staff, there is absolutely no reason to be hard on these guys as they adjust. I don't see either of these issues with Dodd.

 

Lol...if you want to give him three years, go ahead. I gave up on him when he was drafted, and this year is only reaffirmation that I was right. He could not develop till his 10th year, but I'm not waiting for it. If he does, and he's still with the Titans, than great. I hope he does, I don't think he will at all though and not going sit there and think it will.

And yes, most pass rushers do become stars year 1. And they are completely different players. Morgan is smaller, more athletic, and has a lot more tools at his disposal. And Morgan didn't start right away because of the success of the surprising success of Babin.

Morgan is much more talented than Dodd ever was. That's why he was picked at 16, and Dodd wasn't.

 

I still believe Dion Jordan had the talent to be a superstar OLB. He had some major issues off the field though and a lot of injury trouble on top of it. The guy looked head and shoulders above everyone else though on tape and when I watched him go through drills at the combine.

He actually had an outstanding game against Gronk his rookie year I think. Then the problems just started piling up.

But yeah, the guys I said that took a while to come around were even 1st rounders, guys who theoretically should have even more talent than Dodd. Pass rushers don't just grow on trees though. It takes ton of work on their technique on top of talent.

It's the equivalent of TE for the defense: you'll occasionally see a guy have a good rookie year, but normally it takes guys a while to figure it out. That's why everyone is always looking for them, because good ones are not easy to find, and they don't always come out of college with all the skills. They have to learn them.

 

Morgan is small??? He's listed at 6'3" 278. Dodd is 6'5" 280. So 2" and 2lbs is a big difference? And I'm sorry to hear you give up on guys the moment they're drafted.

Here's a list of pass rush stars who did virtually nothing their first year:
-Mario Williams - 16 games, 4 sacks
-JJ Watt - 16 games, 5.5 sacks
-Gerald McCoy - 13 games, 3 sacks - only played 6 games his 2nd season
-Jurrell Casey - 15 starts, 2.5 sacks
-Cameron Jordan - 15 games, 1 sack
-Markus Golden - 15 games, 4 sacks
-Nick Perry - 6 games, 2 sacks

I'm sure there's plenty more, but that gives you an idea that not everyone comes in and goes full Von Miller/Khalil Mack. Most of these guys were 1st rounders (some very high picks) too.

To expect Dodd to come in and be Dwight Freeney is a bit much. We took him because he flashed the potential to be elite, but he wasn't a 1st rounder because that's all teams had to go on was 1 year worth of tape on a loaded team.

He may never pan out, but 1 year doesn't make a players career.

 

Lol, if you are using sacks as the only measuring tool to a player's success, I'm going to go ahead and make the assumption you don't know what you are talking about. Especially bringing up Watt's great rookie season as an example to try and legitimize Dodd.

If you want to cheer on Dodd, go right ahead. In fact, I never questioned you for doing so. However, I'm very confident in my assessment of Dodd, and that is not going to change, especially with the information you are bringing to the table.

 

Lol..doesn't see athletic limitations with Dodd. Maybe you should watch some tape instead of trying to be passive aggressive with me.