Paul Dawson come on down to the 49ers!

He looked a little better in this game other than the missed tackles at the start. He made some plays in the backfield, but he was rarely used in coverage again other than very shallow zones which keep him in the box for run support. TCU got a lead and was in the nickel almost the entire game, so he was one of two linebackers in the box making the majority of the tackles. Dawson didn't have any really impressive plays and didn't display any athleticism, but showed good instincts again.

I definitely do not think he is a good enough player to warrant consideration with our second round pick. If we still haven't drafted an ILB by our third round pick, we should look at Dawson and Perryman, but they may both be two down linebackers.

Originally posted by HarboutTHAT:
Ur crazy bro. He looks good, his instincts are tremendous. Look how he constantly sheds/avoids lineman to meet the RB... Kids stud... Watch some more games..

He does a good job of avoiding linemen and I agree on his instincts, but he can't play in coverage. He looks like a 3rd round pick to me, but we'll see.

4.8 with kickass film? He'll get picked somewhere from high-20s to high to high 50s.

Yeah. Mentioned in another thread that a little concern over his weight at combine, but pro day has been reassuring, and his game tape, which is what everyone should be judged on, will guarantee we'll be lucky if he reached our R2 pick. 15 may be too high for him, BUT if we want him we may have to take him there

Had a feeling he would bounce back well at his Pro Day. The key thing was to get momentum back on his side. He is going to have to satisfy those who are concerned about tardiness issues in the past, but he will be gone before the end of the second round. My guess is that he lands in that 40-55 area.

To me, he will be a better version of Brandon Spikes, who was a good college player at ILB, who bombed worse than Dawson in his testing. A lot worse, but still became a very productive player.

He does not have the speed to cover the TE. We need a guy with the speed to cover the TE. We will not draft him.

Originally posted by captain_planet:
He does not have the speed to cover the TE. We need a guy with the speed to cover the TE. We will not draft him.

LBs can cover TEs without elite speed if they have good fluidity, anticipation and positioning. Bowman doesn't have great speed either. Actually, most TEs don't have great speed.

Originally posted by xcfan:

4.8 with kickass film? He'll get picked somewhere from high-20s to high to high 50s.

He has 4.9 speed... 4.8 at his pro day isn't the same as 4.8 at the combine.

Originally posted by captain_planet:
He does not have the speed to cover the TE. We need a guy with the speed to cover the TE. We will not draft him.

Who are all these fast TEs?

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Who are all these fast TEs?

Not in this draft

Lance Kendricks is pretty fast on the Rams. Jimmy Graham is fast but there's no way I want any rookie ILB matched up against him. Troy Niklas on the Cardinals isn't that fast (faster than Dawson though) but would still be a mismatch. Dawson doesn't have the athleticism to make up for giving up 7" of height, 35 pounds, and a lot of length.

Another question with Dawson is does he retain his 4.93 speed if he puts on weight to play ILB?

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:
Not in this draft

Lance Kendricks is pretty fast on the Rams. Jimmy Graham is fast but there's no way I want any rookie ILB matched up against him. Troy Niklas on the Cardinals isn't that fast (faster than Dawson though) but would still be a mismatch. Dawson doesn't have the athleticism to make up for giving up 7" of height, 35 pounds, and a lot of length.

Another question with Dawson is does he retain his 4.93 speed if he puts on weight to play ILB?

That's why we have two pro-bowl safeties to help what WR in the NFC West will command a ton of safety help...I like Dawson if he is there in the 3rd but I doubt he makes it that far. TEs didn't really roast us last year and we were with out both our pro-bowl ILBs most of the year.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:


I just watched his game against West Virginia and he's not impressive in the least. He put up decent numbers and showed good instincts, but he has almost no explosion and moves more like a defensive lineman. He made plays this game because he was almost always responsible for the RB and blockers rarely got to him, but it doesn't look like he will be effective in coverage or as a pass rusher. He got one interception in the game where the QB was trying to throw the ball away under duress. I don't know why people are assuming he can play in coverage because he had a few interceptions. The guy is a horrible athlete.

I don't think there's a chance he's gone by our pick in the 2nd round and I hope we don't draft him. I'll have to watch other games, but based on the West Virginia game, I'm guessing his stats are more of a result of the defensive scheme and his responsibilities (mainly to stop the run because he's limited in coverage).

Borland was successful because he had incredible instincts and good short-area quickness. This guy only has instincts and I don't know if that's enough at the next level. Kendricks is the linebacker I'd prefer because he moves well to go along with having really good instincts and can play in coverage.

His combine numbers were bad across the board (not just the 40) and support the fact that he's a very limited athlete. He also had the shortest vertical among linebackers (28"), 2nd shortest broad jump (9'1"), and a bad shuttle (4.49). And this is at 235 so he may lose even more if he bulks up to play 3-4 ILB.

I think he might have a role as a 2 down guy in the NFL, but he seems nowhere near a top prospect to me as well. His numbers are terrible, but also probably indicate he's not using steroids yet. So he could improve drastically. If those are his natural numbers they aren't as bad. And the extra 10lbs or so of muscle wouldn't hurt too bad with appropriate supplementation.

Apologies if talking about the fact these guys usually use steroids is bothersome.

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

Had a feeling he would bounce back well at his Pro Day. The key thing was to get momentum back on his side. He is going to have to satisfy those who are concerned about tardiness issues in the past, but he will be gone before the end of the second round. My guess is that he lands in that 40-55 area.

To me, he will be a better version of Brandon Spikes, who was a good college player at ILB, who bombed worse than Dawson in his testing. A lot worse, but still became a very productive player.

Isn't the Spikes comparison a bit worrisome? He's not a very good run defender, although you did say a better version. Would be nice if he was on the board with the Niners 2nd round pick. Is Dawson still your #1 rated MLB?

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
To me, he will be a better version of Brandon Spikes, who was a good college player at ILB, who bombed worse than Dawson in his testing. A lot worse, but still became a very productive player.

Dawson and Spikes were pretty similar across the board in testing. Spikes had a slightly better vertical (29"), broad jump (9'3"), and had a pretty impressive 3 cone for a limited athlete (6.97 which would likely have been significantly faster than Dawson's). He had a terrible 40 yard dash at his pro day (5.05), but he was a lot bigger than Dawson with better length (6'2 7/8" 249, 33 3/8" arms compared to 6' 1/8" 235, 31 1/2" arms). I wouldn't say that his testing was a lot worse considering the difference in sizes and the fact that Dawson only beat him in one drill which varies a lot by attempt.

They're both 2 down linebackers in my opinion. Do you still think Dawson is the 15th best prospect in the class even though you expect him to be taken in the second round and are comparing him to another 2 down linebacker?

am i the only one that though, "Why the hell is there a thread about our kicker in the Draft forum?"