Free Agent of Interest: Shaun Cody

by John Morgan on Jan 22, 2009 2:21 PM PST in Analysis Comment 14 comments

What's that? A new feature at Field Gulls? Yep. FAI offers brief diagnostics on potential free agents of interest. And don't worry (and I know you were), "The Top Ten Stories that Weren't..." feature will conclude soon as I get my voice back. The Waitsian growl I'm sporting won't due.

Name: Shaun Cody

Birthdate: Today, 1983.

College: USC, 4 year starter, Freshman All-America, Consensus All-America in 2004

Notable Stats: 21 sacks, 31.5 total tackles for a loss, 8 blocked field goals

NFL: Lions, 11 starts in four years. O sacks since rookie season.

Notable Stats: 1.5 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss.

Pre-draft measurables: 4.95 in the 40-yard dash at 295 ... 425-pound bench press. ... Bench presses 225 pounds 24 times. ... 550-pound squat. ... 326-pound power clean. ... 31.5-inch vertical jump. ... 31 -inch arms. ...10-inch hands.

20 Word Scouting Report: Fast first step, high motor, single gap, three tech, high character, complete washout as pro, overachiever now underachiever, all upside.

My Take: From linchpin to underachiever and malingerer, Cody is either not long for this league or desperate for an organization with a clue. Cody played his rookie season under first Steve Mariucci and then interim coach Dick Jauron, and the next three seasons under Rod Marinelli. Cody played extensively during Mariucci's twelve weeks and nearly not at all under Jauron. A beef I have with both Jauron and Marinelli is an overdependence on practice performance when determining playing time. In 2008, Marinelli slotted Cody behind Chuck Darby at right defensive tackle. That's a mismanagement of talent. When things aren't working, a smart coach ditches the noble sounding platitudes and shakes up the depth chart. Four years of professional football say he's a bust, but I have reason to think his potential is intact.

via www.pbfcomics.com

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Comments

Pick him up

I think it’s worth a shot…

I actually remember that draft and Cody was one of the kids that I really wanted to see wearing a Hawks uniform. I liked him in his USC days and I thought he had good potential. Obviously he’s been a bust up to this point…but we can pick him up for cheap.

Bring him in for TC….and if all else fails, it was a cheap extra body….or he could suprise us all and begin playing solid football again. I think being in a solid franchise like the Hawks could re-energize him and get his fire back. I can’t imagine what playing in Detroit would do to ya.

by DSAhawker on Jan 22, 2009 2:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

also

also, Detroit is having him play DT at 310lbs…I personally don’t think 310 is a good weight for him, he just looks a lot slower and doughier. Get him down to 285-295 and make him a bigger part of the DE rotation and I think you could see better things from him…I think he’d regain a lot more of his explosiveness and put on some better moves.

I’m just guessing here, but to me it seems like he is a physically weak DT, but would be a strong DE…he’d be able to use his strength along with his speed a lot better on the edge.

Unless he wants to stay fat and eat up some blockers so he can help out his old teammate Lofa :D

by DSAhawker on Jan 22, 2009 2:53 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Like JM said

he’s cheap, all upside, and adds depth. Why not? If he fails, we dump him in a year or two with little loss. If he succeeds, we got a productive player for cheap. Getting productive players for cheap is in my opinion the basis behind great teams. Give him a shot.

by Fear on Jan 22, 2009 3:01 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Yes please.

by Phildopip on Jan 22, 2009 3:55 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hmmm

Here’s where we begin to rekindle debate about whether John Morgan is actually Tim Ruskell. Let the first signing of the offseason begin! Wait, what do you mean they haven’t played the superbowl yet? I certainly don’t care about it this year.

by jimmimoose on Jan 22, 2009 3:57 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Make it so

these are exactly the type of low risk/high upside moves I want to see the team make in FA.

Even if he stays at his current level and doesn’t show as a reclamation project, he’s a piece of a solid 3-tech rotation, and I’m sure he won’t break the bank.

by jteckmann on Jan 22, 2009 4:16 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Where do you find TFL stats at?

by Nate Dogg on Jan 22, 2009 4:27 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I scoured multiple sites and compiled it.

by John Morgan on Jan 22, 2009 6:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Wasn't there another D-line rookie the same year named Dan Cody?

He might have been out of USC as well, and I think he was also a first day (maybe first round) pick? Whatever happened to him?

by LantermanC on Jan 22, 2009 4:54 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Yup, though he went to Oklahoma.

Hasn’t played since ’06, and even in ’06 only played in 4 games.

According to his Wiki page he’s been injured most of his career.

by Phildopip on Jan 22, 2009 5:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I remember those two, because I kept confusing them

Shaun around 290lbs and projected as a 3-tech DT in a 4-3 or a DE in a 3-4. Dan was around 250lbs and projected as either a 4-3 DE or a 3-4 OLB. Both went in the 2nd round, about 10 picks apart … and I remember being ticked at the time ’cause we missed out on both in order to reach on some undersized, gritty MLB …. shows what I know.

Sounds like Dan blew up his knee his first training camp, and never recovered from it. Bummer.

by jteckmann on Jan 22, 2009 5:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I remember thinking Dan was gonna be beast.

by SeaTownBlueDevil on Jan 22, 2009 7:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Part of the controversy with Dan Cody

was that he missed a lot of games at OU being treated for depression. As I recall they just couldn’t get his meds right — some prescriptions caused him to lose a lot of weight. It was a big problem. Then he got resolved came back and played well. Then he went to the pros and was never healthy. Too bad.

What I recall liking about Cody was that he was expert at using his hands. I saw him as a more talented version of Craig Terrill—similar game, just better. Probably not an every down tackle in the NFL, but put him in a rotation and you got yourself a player.

"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin

by dcrockett17 on Jan 23, 2009 5:02 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs