O’Daniel shines at the 2018 NFL Combine
By: Gavin Oliver March 4, 2018

Dorian O’Daniel showed very well at the 2018 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday. The former Clemson linebacker was a top performer amongst his position group in virtually every drill.

O’Daniel shined in the three-cone drill, posting a time of 6.64 seconds — easily the best time recorded by a linebacker this year and tied for the second-best time by a linebacker since at least 2006 (the recent best was set by Virginia Tech’s Cody Grimm in 2010; 6.58 seconds).

O’Daniel also topped all linebackers in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 4.07 seconds, besting the 4.15-second times recorded by Vanderbilt’s Oren Burks and Boise State’s Leighton Vander Esch.

Altogether, O’Daniel finished no worse than 15th among linebackers in any of the drills he participated in at the combine.

The native of Olney, Md., clocked in with an official time of 4.61 in the 40-yard dash, put up 21 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, leaped 32 inches in the vertical jump and had a 9-feet, 11-inch broad jump. O’Daniel’s 40 time ranked 11th among all linebacker participants, while his bench press mark tied for the eigth-best among the linebackers. He was a top-10 linebacker performer in the broad jump as well (tied for 9th) and came in at No. 15 in the vertical jump.

O’Daniel arrived in Indianpolis on Thursday before weighing in Friday at 6-foot and 5/8 inches, 223 pounds. He measured in with 9-inch hands, 31 1/8-inch arms and a wingspan of 75 inches.

CBS Sports NFL draft writer Chris Trapasso projects O’Daniel to be a first-round draft pick. The 2018 NFL draft will take place from April 26-28 and be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

As a senior in 2017, O’Daniel was a first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated and one of five finalists for the Butkus Award. He was also a second-team All-ACC selection after logging 104 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, six quarterback pressures, two interceptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns, three pass breakups and two recovered fumbles in 718 snaps over 14 games (14 starts).

For his career, O’Daniel tallied 227 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 12 quarterback pressures, three interceptions, five pass breakups, two caused fumbles and two recovered fumbles in 1,465 snaps over 56 games (27 starts). He is tied for first in Clemson history in special teams tackles (47) and second in games.