Chiefs’ Dorian O’Daniel ‘trusting the process’ as core special teams contributor
Kansas City Chiefs second-year linebacker Dorian O’Daniel is one season removed from playing 302 defensive snaps and totaling 34 tackles, a quarterback hit, a pass defensed and a fumbe recovery in a rotational role.
Eight games into the 2019 regular season, O’Daniel has played zero defensive snaps.
Not exactly what one would expect for a player on which the Chiefs spent a third-round pick (100th overall).
O’Daniel, though, doesn’t fret over the lack of playing time on defense.
“I try not to worry about that too much versus control what I can control,” O’Daniel said. “That’s my work ethic, my mindset and that’s how I attack the day every day. It’s a long season, so whenever the opportunity presents itself, I have to be ready.”
The Chiefs have found a way to keep O’Daniel involved through special teams, where he is a core contributor with 134 snaps.
“Listen, he’s concentrating a lot on special teams right now,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “The tough thing when you get out of training camp when you get into the season is being able to get reps to everybody to stay in tune.”
Contributing on special teams isn’t a bad thing for young players like O’Daniel, of course. Special teams can prove beneficial when considering the repetitions teach players to think quickly on their feet, react and play fast.
“The one thing about special teams is you learn how to play in space and you learn how to make tackles in space,” Chiefs linebackers coach Matt House said, “which defensively, that’s really what the games have become.”
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound O’Daniel joined the Chiefs when the defense utilized a 3-4 base scheme under former coordinator Bob Sutton, and the athletic linebacker with 4.61 speed in the 40-yard dash found a niche as part of the linebacker rotation during his rookie season.
The offseason, however, brought about changes on defense, notably the hiring of Spagnuolo and the additions of veteran linebackers Damien Wilson and Darron Lee.
More important, the Chiefs changed their defensive scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3 base, which in recent weeks has featured Wilson, Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland as the starters with Lee and Ben Niemann in reserve.
And much as he did during a rookie season spent learning the ropes as a pro, O’Daniel found himself adjusting yet again.
The second-year linebacker also endured missing Weeks 5-6 with a hamstring injury, which he admits caused a level of frustration.
“Any time you get injured, you feel like you’re letting guys around you down even if you’re contributing on special teams,” O’Daniel said. “It’s not a good feeling being on the sidelines watching the guys go out there and compete. But I got healthy, I didn’t rush it and made sure I was 100 percent before I came back.”
Nevertheless, the Chiefs defensive coordinator pointed out that the two-week absence had an unfortunate effect on O’Daniel’s development in his second season.
“He had that two-week period where he got dinged a little and he wasn’t out there, so that kind of set him back a little bit,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s working his way back into linebacker form, but right now we’ve got the rotation with the three guys we have there.
“I mean, Darron was playing for us, and then he got hurt, and Ben has been doing a nice job. So, he’s kind of finding his way in the mix of five or six linebackers.”
In the meantime, O’Daniel goes about his business with steady improvement on his mind as the Chiefs enter the second half of the regular season.
While he hasn’t been involved much on defense just yet, O’Daniel embraces his role on special teams because he can contribute.
O’Daniel also understands what he does either on special teams or with any practice repetition can go a long way in showing the coaching staff that he’ll reliable on defense when his number is called.
“I’m still learning, still getting better, still improving,” he said. “I think there’s always something you can improve on. There are always ways to get better, but I’m just trusting the process and kind of attack the day and little things to help my game.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 4:24 PM.
