by Dallas Cowboys Blog

Ex-TCU safety Stephen Hodge should stick with the Cowboys because of his ability to wreak havoc on special teams. After listening to Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips talk about the sixth-round pick, it sounds like he has a chance to be a squatty, modern-day version of Bill Bates.

If Hodge develops into a dependable part of the defense, that'd be a bonus. The Cowboys will try to convert him into an inside linebacker.

Hodge, who is listed at 6-0, 234 pounds, often played in the box in the Horned Frogs' 3-3-5 scheme, making 20.5 tackles for losses during his junior and senior seasons.

It's not unusual to see an in-the-box safety converted into a 4-3 weakside linebacker, such as Tampa Bay's Cato June, who won a Super Bowl ring with the Colts. Wade Phillips said the Mo spot (weakside inside linebacker) in his scheme is basically the same position.

However, the Cowboys don't plan to limit Hodge to the inside. They also want to see how he handles playing the strong side, hoping that he can serve as a backup to both spots.

"We'll have to see," Phillips said. "Obviously, he hasn't played linebacker. But he played safety and made a lot of tackles. He came up a lot and made a lot of plays and obviously was a real good safety. We see him as an inside 'backer and we'll just have to get a feel for if he can do both."

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