One of the bigger surprises from the Tennessee Titans’ preseason games has been the development made by second-year tight end, Thomas Odukoya.
The Dutch playmaker out of the Netherlands signed last offseason as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL draft as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program.
Prior to that, Odukoya appeared in a total of 40 games with 30 starts over four seasons at Eastern Michigan (2018-21), recording 21 catches for 194 yards and four touchdowns over his entire college career.
The Eastern Michigan product spent his rookie season as a member of the team’s practice squad; however, Tennessee’s young tight end is starting to make a legitimate case for himself to be on the actual 53-man roster this year.
Odukoya has been one of the unexpected standouts, and particularly when it comes to his run-blocking abilities along the edge — and that has only been amplified in exhibition play.
I might have a new #Titans TE crush… Thomas Odukoya was straight up mauling some dudes in the run game against Chicago (👀#89 lined up next to Dillard here) pic.twitter.com/xn0X72juaQ
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) August 14, 2023
The Eastern Michigan product has routinely been a violent and powerful presence who seemingly embraces the physicality that comes with the position.
Thomas Odukoya is an absolute menace and I love it pic.twitter.com/dBzR13s4M9
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) August 20, 2023
Head Coach Mike Vrabel discussed Odukoya’s overall development on Tuesday, and he clearly likes what he sees from his second-year tight end.
“Well, we didn’t bring him in,” Vrabel said when talking about acquiring Odukoya through the program. “We lucked out, we absolutely lucked out because there’s not a better human being, and we got great people around here, but there’s not anybody better (than Odukoya) that cares about this team, that works his tail off and has really taken advantage of those reps at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s had good practice against our guys, in Minnesota and then carried over to the game — wrestling and tangling with some of those big guys on the edge of the line of scrimmage. His hard work has paid off, and that’s been really cool to see. We like for good things to happen to great people.”
Only time will tell whether or not Odukoya ends up making the final roster, but judging by his film and the words of his head coach, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Titans would love to continue working with him in some capacity going forward.
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