Miami Dolphins Rumors: Jared Odrick a trade candidate?

That’s what Armando Salguerro of the Miami Herald thinks, and I agree that trading Jared Odrick makes sense for the Miami Dolphins. Odrick was drafted by the Dolphins with the 28th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Penn State, and this was back when the Dolphins ran a 3-4. Odrick was an ideal fit as a defensive end in that scheme with his strength and solid ability to stop the run. However, the Dolphins transformation to a 4-3 scheme this season (one that helped the defense as a whole) rendered Odrick out-of-place, ineffective, and as a viable trade candidate for a team that runs a 3-4 scheme.

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The five-technique DE can’t play in the 4-3 due to his lack of speed and explosiveness, which are two tools that mold an effective 4-3 pass rusher. As we saw in 2012, Odrick was far from an effective pass rusher in the 4-3 and was easily the Dolphins worst pass rusher. He still made an impact in run defense, but you could tell that the rush he was providing was inconsistent. When the Dolphins played the New England Patriots the first time, Nate Solder repeatedly manhandled Odrick.

Salguerro’s piece is an excellent one, and I would highly recommend reading his reasons. If you have a subscription to the Pro Football Focus, then you should check out Odrick’s pass rushing grade; it is ghastly. Cameron Wake was the highest-graded pass rusher among 4-3 DEs in the league, while Odrick was third-worst. Yes, third-worst.

That serves to illustrate Odrick’s lack of value to the Miami Dolphins organization nowadays, because he is the opposite of what a 4-3 DE should be. Odrick clearly does not fit this scheme, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a useless commodity. In fact, Odrick is on a team-friendly contract and is just 25. He still has plenty of upside, and that could be tapped into if Odrick is traded to a team that utilizes the 3-4 alignment on defense.

The Miami Dolphins could get a fourth-rounder out of trading Jared Odrick, and his run defense is already good enough as a 4-3 DE to have teams in need of a better 3-4 DE in run defense to lick their chops. His pass rushing ability would no longer be abhorrent in the 3-4 alignment, because in his only season in the 3-4 (2011), Odrick was about an average pass rusher. And that was in his first season in the league (he only played in one game in 2010 as a “rookie” due to a severe injury).

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