56th Overall Draft Pick: DUKE DAWSON (merged)

[VJCPatriot]

Please welcome newly selected New England Patriots draftee, Duke Dawson, CB from Florida.

Prospect Info

COLLEGE
Florida

HOMETOWN
Cross City, FL

CLASS
Senior

HEIGHT
5' 11"

WEIGHT
197 lbs

ARMS
31 1/2”

HANDS
9”

Scouting Reports:
NFL Draft & Combine Profile - Duke Dawson | NFL.com

NFL Draft Scouting Report: Duke Dawson, CB, Florida

Highlights Video:


Combine Video:

 

[primetime]

From Bob McGinn:

9. DUKE DAWSON, Florida (5-10 ½, 196, 4.50, 3): Playing sparingly for two years, served as nickel back in ’16 and started in ’17. “He’s similar to Jaire Alexander, just not quite as good,” one scout said. “He can play inside or outside. Got good feet and speed and awareness. Good, solid overall player. Not an elite guy.” Finished with 82 tackles, six picks and 23 PBUs. “He ran 4.45 but he doesn’t play to it,” a second scout said. “Competitive nickel. He’s fairly tough. He’s had a history of concussions which may hurt him.” From Cross City, Fla. Added a third scout: “Love him. He’ll be a nickel corner and get on the field right away and play.”

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

From Cross City Florida. Grew up an FSU fan. Been contributing since he got to UF in some way shape or form.

• Solid compact thick build
  
• Very quick feet that seemingly never trip up. Good transition.
• Very physical & will look to jam WR's early & has a very good, strong punch. Def one of the better CB's at actually impeding Wr's w/ a jam.
• Very smart player that will break off early & go to where the play is. Earned & learned a ton on the practice field w/ Teez, Wilson etc. Has np stepping up to make a play.
• Hasn't allowed over 40% cmp% in over 2 years.
• Should be plug & play in the slot/nickel. Erases slants, screens & sniffs out reverses very easy. Very smart at route rec. Very comfortable over the middle. Head & eyes is always moving looking to pick up or drive on the ball.
• Very tough & shows no fear in run support.
• Has played against & performed very well against some great players.
• Can play man, off, zone.
• Turns into a RB after an INT

• Long speed will be a problem vs legit deep threats.
• Gets too grabby but hes just a physical player, has to be curved a bit.
• Has to get foret about the big hit & just wrap up for the safe play.
• Little bit of stiffness
• Most likely "just" a slot CB.

So excited about Dawson. Perfect CB for Bill. Tough, physical, versatile & smart. He should be contributing Day 1. Great pick.

 

[primetime]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Was writing up and didn't see this. My bad

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Check out the r/r here. No wasted motion.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[Bradyking12]

Hopefully he's a hit

 

[EMpats]

Watching highlights he reminds me of Logan Ryan. I’ll take it.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

He’s going to get burned deep multiple times next year and fans on this forum will be calling for his head.

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

He’s going to get burned deep multiple times next year and fans on this forum will be calling for his head.

Yep. And every single secondary player we could have taken instead of him will end their HOF careers having not allowed a single completion. Because of reality and all.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

He’s going to get burned deep multiple times next year and fans on this forum will be calling for his head.

A corner that gets beat deep. Color me shocked.

 

[patfanken]

So we added the 90th 5'10 CB of the Bellichick era to go along with the 105 OT's we've added this offseason. So I'm guessing we didn't get a pick in the 3rd round, so what do we have left beyond next year's 2nd rounder from the Bears.

Still happy to see Shaqueem Griffin not taken yet. That wouldn't be a bad fourth round to nab Griffin and Lauletta.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Really haven't seen enough of this player to make an opinion. I've read encouraging things about him after the fact, especially the qb completion rate. Other than that Welcome to the Pats and hope he does well.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Another undersized CB. Great job.

 

[IcyPatriot]

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Another undersized CB. Great job.

Both of our starting corners are over 6' already, so I'm not sure what's the big deal. But, let's bring some facts to the discussion.

NFL average: 5'11 190.
Duke Dawson: 5'10 5/8 197.

Hold up your fingers 3/8 of an inch apart. Pretty miniscule. Now tell me that's why he's going to succeed or fail. Why don't you pop over to my thread with clips I made from his games, and see how you like his play? He's pretty skilled, all things considered. A fine pick in the 2nd.

 

[BobDigital]

My thoughts after watching some highlight tape on him. I'll try to list things not listed here.

Pros: One thing that stuck out about him to me is how he doesn't tend to allow YAC. I don't just mean by making the tackle but the way he does it. He is 208lbs but he plays bigger. He hits low and hard and usually stops guys dead when he does it. I saw a number of plays where guys weren't even able to fall forward for an extra yard. He plays with suddenness and violence for a CB. His days at safety may have something to do with it. He is clearly a slot guy which can be a full time position on a lot of teams but in a pinch could play outside for a little bit. He seems to have a good feel for the game and won't let RBs in the back field or QBs run for a lot of yards in his zone. When facing the play in the slot there isn't much any player facing him can do. I don't know a lot of info about how he is with his back turned.

Cons: I saw all 6 of his interceptions and not one was actually made by him. All of them were freak plays or horrible offensive plays or lucky bounces. I never saw him make his own interception (as in grab a ball away from a WR with a great play or pull a SB49 Butler type play). This to me in concerning with such a large sample size. It sucks too cause when he has the ball in his hands he's dangerous. With such a large sample size not seeing 1 such play is concerning. I saw him a few times get beat vertically on tape (not by a mile mind you). With a perfect or close to perfect pass he would have give up TDs on those plays. It is concerning cause while he is great in the slot if we play man and the slot option gets vertical I'm not sure how he will handle it.

Overall I think it's a solid enough pick but to be honest I don't completely love it. The Pats play a lot of 3 safety and in that case the slot CB comes off the field. I am not saying a nickle CB can't be worth a 2nd but as much as the Pats play 3 safety I don't think they will get full value out of the pick as much as a team that did mostly cover 2 in a 4-2-5 or high cover 1 would.

I think he will be a good player for the Pats and not bust as he is specialized and I think that tends to bode well for making the transition into the NFL in cases of guys who aren't super talents. Overall I grade it a solid B.

 

[RayClay]

Don't know why you would want a tall slot corner. Quick and strong.