Duke Dawson GIF study

[WaterfallJumper]

Think many of you will be pleasantly surprised with Dawson's abilities. He's going to see the field in every three corner package, at minimum, and comes with some upside.






Comparing his technique in press against Jackson's (look for my posts earlier today for his breakdown) is such a huge difference. Better hips, good patience, has his hands under control. He shows awareness to come off his primary responsibility and make a strong tackle against a big RB.



He can carry vertical routes with ease from a press alignment. More importantly, he has the awareness to find the ball, peel off from his guy, and prepare to make a tackle if the other receiver catches the ball.



Again, comfortable in press, clean feet, good balance, and can blanket the receiver downfield.



Doesn't panic despite the push off, comes back to make a hit, and breaks up the pass. Quick feet, locked in on the play, and plays with a physical attitude. I'll take it, even though he was initially beaten on the route. I do think it was borderline OPI (or at least they would have called it on Gronk, ha!) but he keeps his composure and just makes the play.



Questions remain. How is he in the slot? Can he play some zone? How is his awareness if he's not locked up man to man on every snap? Well, check out this interception. Ball skills and head's up play.





I'm limited to 5 GIFs per post, so I'll be back tomorrow to add more from other games. This will be fun!

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I forgot to mention that he was the #6 corner on my big board, so that's pretty good value since he was the 7th corner off the board. I'm pretty happy with him as a second corner to complement what we have already in our secondary.


He's can be a playmaker due to his opportunistic attitude and awareness downfield.

 

[RayClay]

I think he looks like a real good fit for our defense.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Pretty solid tackler. Here he is playing more of a slot or safety type of role, picking up the RB in the flat, and making a tackle for a short gain. He's about 200 pounds (played in the season at over 205, but trimmed down to run in the 4.4s at the Combine), and just a shade under 5'11. He's an inch taller than Butler and outweighs him by about 15 pounds. Let's not act like he's tiny.




Very encouraging to see his pursuit and the way he attacks the ball. He definitely brings some good physicality to the position. People will like him.

 

[UFGatorPat]

As I mentioned in the other thread:

Pros:
-High Level Quickness and pretty good top end
-Very Physical vs run, doesn’t over pursue but may give up yards while being overly patient.
-Comfortable in the Slot or on the outside, also can play down in the box somewhat (not likely in our defense or NFL level)
-Work ethic, attitude and team first all there despite consistently ****ty offenses at UF and no sense of coaching. Imagine the frustration. Never noticed a drop off much with fatigue (seems like he is in really good shape)
-great if he gets the ball in his hands

Cons
-Not terribly instinctual or anticipating of when to break on a route
-Conservative approach in zone and or at Safety position
-Spotty hands, dropped some fairly easy INTs
-prefers to run with a WR than jam and get beat

He had a lot of coaching turnover at the secondary coaching level but also some good ones.

I think most of his cons can be improved with consistent coaching but he lacks the natural DB instincts to be an All Pro. Slightly poorer mans DMac but a better corner than safety. He has the natural tools to be as good though.

I think he’s the kind of DB you need in today’s passing game to be physical with Slot WRs, but he has a lot to learn in terms of physical technique. he has the strength to do so.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

As I mentioned in the other thread:

Pros:
-High Level Quickness and pretty good top end yet
-Very Physical vs run, doesn’t over pursue but may give up yards while being over patient.
-Comfortable in the Slot or on the outside, also can play down in the box somewhat (not likely in our defense or NFL level)
-Work ethic, attitude and team first all there despite consistently ****ty offenses at UF and no sense of coaching. Imagine the frustration. Never noticed a drop off much with fatigue (seems like he is in really good shape)
-great if he gets the ball in his hands

Cons
-Not terribly instinctual or anticipating of when to break on a route
-Conservative approach in zone and or at Safety position
-Spotty hands, dropped some fairly easy INTs
-prefers to run with a WR than jam and get beat

He had a lot of coaching turnover at the secondary coaching level but also some good ones.

I think most of his cons can be improved with consistent coaching but he lacks the natural DB instincts to be an All Pro. Slightly poorer mans DMac but a better corner than safety. He has the natural tools to be as good though.

I think he’s the kind of DB you need in today’s passing game to be physical with Slot WRs, but he has a lot to learn in terms of physical technique. he has the strength to do so.

Awesome, love the contribution. I'm looking forward to posting more clips tomorrow. He has a lot of versatility, he's very competitive, and he shows solid technique. Also, during the press conference tonight, Caserio said that they've been tracking him since last year, since there was a chance that he would declare as a junior; that gives me a lot of confidence that they got their guy, and he's been the target all along.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Nice work and nice thread. Dawson has the Cat like quickness we all crave.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

@RONDO

Please feel free to add negatives. He gets beat, just like every DB. This is a good place to show your concerns and highlight his areas for improvement.

 

[reflexblue]

At least ive heard of him, thats not usually the case with second round d backs.

 

[Soliel]

He looks pretty good in highlights against really tough schools. I think he will wind up opposite Gilmore.

I understand he’s a slot corner but I can see him making the other side of the field almost as bad as tossing at Gilmore

 

[PP2]

Good analysis @reamer

 

[RobertWeathers]

He looks pretty good in highlights against really tough schools. I think he will wind up opposite Gilmore.

I understand he’s a slot corner but I can see him making the other side of the field almost as bad as tossing at Gilmore

It'll be interesting to see. Rowe is a bigger CB so vs smaller WR2s or offenses in which they run their offense through the slot the kid just might play more that Jason Mc

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Nice work and nice thread. Dawson has the Cat like quickness we all crave.

and not in a gang

 

[1960Pats]

Check out #3 on that play. He was too busy waving his arms and straddling over the WR to notice that Dawson caught the ball and may have needed some help.

 

[Triumph]

Didn't the Pats have another little DB several years back?

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

Nice breakdown.

 

[patriot1136]

I read that he is a little too "handsy" and will need to clean that up or he will get a lot of PI calls against him.

 

[UFGatorPat]

I read that he is a little too "handsy" and will need to clean that up or he will get a lot of PI calls against him.

Hmm, I don’t particularly agree, but I could be just not remembering those. I see that he is sometimes not that physical in the passing game.

I do remember he had a really rough game against LSU where he dropped 2 picks, had a couple holding calls and had a deep ball, where he had both hands on the ball but so did the WR on the ground.

He seems to get his hands around the ball though and is typically in the right area. He is never really outmatched physically.

 

[DaBruinz]

As I mentioned in the other thread:

Pros:
-High Level Quickness and pretty good top end
-Very Physical vs run, doesn’t over pursue but may give up yards while being overly patient.
-Comfortable in the Slot or on the outside, also can play down in the box somewhat (not likely in our defense or NFL level)
-Work ethic, attitude and team first all there despite consistently ****ty offenses at UF and no sense of coaching. Imagine the frustration. Never noticed a drop off much with fatigue (seems like he is in really good shape)
-great if he gets the ball in his hands

Cons
-Not terribly instinctual or anticipating of when to break on a route
-Conservative approach in zone and or at Safety position
-Spotty hands, dropped some fairly easy INTs
-prefers to run with a WR than jam and get beat

He had a lot of coaching turnover at the secondary coaching level but also some good ones.

I think most of his cons can be improved with consistent coaching but he lacks the natural DB instincts to be an All Pro. Slightly poorer mans DMac but a better corner than safety. He has the natural tools to be as good though.

I think he’s the kind of DB you need in today’s passing game to be physical with Slot WRs, but he has a lot to learn in terms of physical technique. he has the strength to do so.

Interesting that two of the cons you knocked him on are 2 of the things that are supposedly good things about him.. That he's instinctual and that he's got sticky hands..

 

[WaterfallJumper]

@BobDigital

I remember you were a little concerned about the nature of his interceptions (more right place, right time rather than good ball skills), so I tracked down some of his other interceptions to assuage your fears. I hope these are more what you're looking for!