The only thing I warn about Thurman.....

[DawgNeil]

As a UGA senior....I am so damn excited that my two boys are heading to a very good NFL team.

Pollack will be fine wherever you put him.

But some of the posts that I have read on here expect Odell to become an immediate NFL starter and I wouldn't expect that just yet.

He is without doubt one of the fastest players on UGA's team last year....the explosion to the ball was drop-dead unbelievable. He also put on numerous hits on players that scared me just to look and see them.

BUT

Odell goes in these spells where he misses a lot of tackles. Odell had horrible games against Tennessee and Florida....arguably our two biggest games. 7th round pick Fason, RB from UF, and others ran all over Thurman it seemed....whether it was through or around him. It left a lot of us scratching our heads.

Is it mechanics? I have no idea....consistency needs to be put in him.

Rumors have circulated here that when Tony Taylor went down in the pre-season...it sent Odell into turmoil because Taylor was the guy who had to tell Thurman what to do on many plays.

Be careful not to throw too much on Odell immediately.

[derekshank]

It's true. Even if he was completely polished, he's a rookie. He's going to be a special teamer for a while unless there are serious injury problems, in which case we will be in big trouble having to start a rookie in the middle any time soon.

Best case scenario as that he could be playing middle backer some by mid-season, and Landon Johnson can get some reps at SS. But even that is fairly unlikely. Pollack will be the only draft pick that has a real chance of winning the job for opening day - and he will. Sorry Hardy, but as The Donald would say "You're Fired"

[jditty47]

well thats what i was thinking.

[HairOnFire]

Be careful not to throw too much on Odell immediately.

I just checked. We're not in charge.

[HoosierCat]

It's true. Even if he was completely polished, he's a rookie. He's going to be a special teamer for a while unless there are serious injury problems, in which case we will be in big trouble having to start a rookie in the middle any time soon.

Best case scenario as that he could be playing middle backer some by mid-season, and Landon Johnson can get some reps at SS. But even that is fairly unlikely. Pollack will be the only draft pick that has a real chance of winning the job for opening day - and he will. Sorry Hardy, but as The Donald would say "You're Fired"

What he said.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

No one's sure yet what moves the Bengals are going to make now, but they will obviously make a couple of major decisions on defense.

Odell won't start unless he beats someone out for a position first - or if the defense has problems again at LB and they want to give him a shot early on.

The Bengals wouldn't have drafted him that early if they didn't think he could come in and play right away....Caleb Miller did last year (and was disappointing).

IF you're a LB, either you can play, or you can't. OT doesn't strike me as a project, but someone who can contribute immediately. And all players have off-games, the last thing I'm worried about is Odell's tackling abilities, if he misses some it's because he over pursues and needs some pro coaching on technique and angles - nothing that can't be overcome fairly quickly I'm sure.

[BengalByTheBay]

I don't think we're in the mindset of starting a rook at MLB anyway. Been there....don't need to redo that. Last year it was an act born out of complete desperation. I think ML will go with Landon until he gets a long look at OT in situationally. That should mean the entire first half of the season I would think. Nonetheless, I feel really good about this guy and think he's got a nice upside and will fit really well. And to be honest, it's the only pick that really seems to unequivocally be about stopping the run.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I just checked. We're not in charge.

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