Offensive lineman often dream of the opportunity to catch a pass. Brian Dooley had his chance as a true freshman in what became his favorite memory of his career at Eastern Michigan.
Due to injuries, Dooley moved over from the offensive line to tight end. At around 265 pounds and with a little bit of speed, he was moved for just four games to preserve his redshirt.
Going up against Purdue in EMU’s second game of the 2018 season, Dooley’s coaches told him they had created a play up for him to catch a pass. As soon as it was drawn up, and after practicing it effectively several times, he believed it would work.
As the game unfolded and the Eagles trailed in the second half, he doubted he would get his chance. But with 8 minutes, 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter as the Eagles had the ball on Purdue’s 30-yard line, EMU called Dooley’s play.
As he approached the line of scrimmage, he noticed the Boilermakers ran a different defensive front than they normally do, which made Dooley wonder if EMU would have proper blocking. Sure enough, as he ran down field, he noticed his quarterback needed to scramble.
“Please throw the ball,” Dooley recalled thinking.
The pass was delivered, and Dooley made a diving catch over the middle for a 20-yard gain. That set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Eagles, who went on to defeat their Big Ten opponent.
“That was pretty sweet,” Dooley told HERO Sports. “That was like my one moment.”
That ended up being the lone catch of his college career. But does he miss playing tight end?
“I like being in the trenches,” Dooley said. “I do miss trying to catch the ball and stuff, but I think blocking is my way to go.”
He’s probably right, as he could be playing for an NFL team in the near future. The three-time All-MAC offensive lineman is one of the top pro prospects out of that conference this year.
“My film really kind of speaks for itself,” Dooley said. “Coming from the MAC, we’ve played against bigger opponents and we’ve beaten bigger opponents. So it truly doesn’t matter where you come from. If you can play football, you can play football.
“I just feel like I can play at any level, and I can probably keep up with whoever.”
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Brian Dooley’s Eastern Michigan Career
Dooley, who’s from Bowling Green, Ohio, believes EMU prepared him well for the NFL.
His coaching staff worked with a few current pros, and Dooley had the opportunity to speak to them and learn from them. Many of the workouts he’s doing now to prepare for the next level are what his strength coach at EMU had him do during college.
“I wouldn’t have chosen to go anywhere else,” Dooley said. “We get after it pretty well here.”
Among FBS tackles who played at least 500 snaps in this year’s draft class, Pro Football Focus ranked Dooley 17th for his run blocking and 27th for his overall performance. He allowed just 18 quarterback pressures and three sacks in 2023 while playing primarily at right tackle.
In fact, Dooley has been a starter going all the way back to 2019, and he never allowed more than four sacks in any of those seasons.
Dooley pointed out his footwork and his length as a couple of his strengths as a player. He feels that easily allows him to take control of opposing defensive linemen.
While he’s open to playing guard or center – when NFL scouts asked if he can play guard, his response was “heck yeah” – he believes his length will likely lead to him remaining at tackle.
“I just never take stuff for granted,” Dooley said. “I was always positive about my life. When people weren’t so positive, I would try to take that negativity and turn it into positivity. I just always want to be positive in my life, and hopefully later on down the road, use that NFL platform back in my hometown and just create things that can help people in the community that I didn’t have when I was a kid.”
Brian Dooley’s NFL Draft Potential
Eastern Michigan played in the 68 Ventures Bowl this past season. And after about a week and a half of rest, Dooley has been working out.
He noted he’s working on his upper body strength so he can bench press 225 pounds as many times as possible. He’s also emphasizing his explosiveness with band workouts.
He also competed in the Tropical Bowl earlier this year. He said he spoke with a few scouts who were happy with how he performed.
“Just had to go out there and do what you need to do,” Dooley said. “Just go produce.”
Although he didn’t receive an invite to the NFL Combine, he hopes to prove what he’s capable of at EMU’s Pro Day on March 14. And leading up to the draft, he’s dedicated to doing whatever he can to become a pro.
“My mindset is just show up to workouts every day and give it 110%. My mindset is just keep going and never lose track of what my goal is,” Dooley said. “I just need to prove to the scouts and the GMs and head coaches that just because I come from the MAC doesn’t mean I can’t play with anyone.”
