Kevin Dodd had a message to all of those NFL scouts and general managers that wonder if he was just a one year wonder at Clemson.
“If you believe in me, I’m going to do what it takes to get the job done. I’m looking forward to it,” the defensive end said on Friday to the media at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
In a video shot by The (Columbia) State, Dodd says he is going to work hard and try to produce the best he can for any team he goes and plays for. That’s what he did at Clemson this past season.
If there is one thing to understand about Kevin Dodd he is a man of his word. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took a chance on the 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive end out of Taylor, S.C. Dodd had very little playing experience out of high school and some wondered if Clemson wasted a scholarship after he played just 219 snaps in his first three years at Clemson.
He appreciated Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables staying with him, and he wanted to show him his appreciation by giving it his all when he got his opportunity.
“We had pretty good depth. Coming into my freshman year in 2012 we had a lot of guys, especially at defensive end … Vic Beasley, Malachi Goodman, Shaq Lawson. We were really deep,” Dodd said. “When those guys got out, guys like myself got the chance to step up.”
But after earning the starting spot opposite Shaq Lawson, who is also a first-round prospect in this year’s NFL Draft, Dodd came out of nowhere to earn All-ACC honors. He racked up 86 tackles, 23.5 were behind the line of scrimmage and 12 sacks. Only Lawson had more tackles for loss in the country.
“I got my chance and I produced. I guess there is more stuff I have to do, but you just have to wait and see,” Dodd said.
Dodd heads into this weekend’s NFL Scouting Combine as a projected first-round selection. He and Lawson have an opportunity to be the first bookends from Clemson to be selected in the opening round of the draft in the same year.
If they can, it means they have overcome the bad rap Clemson defensive ends have been getting from the national media in recent years. Since the late Gaines Adams went No. 4 overall in the 2007 NFL Draft, Clemson defensive ends have struggled in the league.
Adams never truly lived up to his potential before a rare heart condition took his life in 2010. Phillip Merling, who was selected No. 32 overall in the 2008 draft, struggled with consistency and was considered a bust. DaQuan Bowers, a second-round pick in 2011, has never got on track in the NFL and was out of football for the majority of the 2015 season before the Buccaneers resigned him. Of course the verdict is still out on Vic Beasley, who the Falcons took No. 8 overall in last year’s draft.
“It is not going to hurt me at all. I’m going to be Kevin Dodd and do what I have to do. I’m going to live up to my potential,” Dodd said.
Dodd says his decision to enter the NFL Draft after this past season came after he received a second-round grade from the NFL Draft Advisory board. When he recorded 16 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and five sacks in the Tigers’ three postseason games – it then became a no brainer.
“There wasn’t more I could prove, I felt like. I was complete and I was ready to play (in the NFL),” he said.
Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
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