Dawson earns positive reviews at Senior Bowl
MOBILE, Ala, —
was a little lethargic to start the day during Wednesday’s practice session at the Senior Bowl. It was understandable since the UF cornerback missed the first day of workouts while recovering from a bout with strep throat.
“I was really disappointed. I was down on myself a little bit, but once everything settled down I got back to [being] myself,” he said. “I just came out here and tried to knock the rust off. It was kind of rusty for me. All these other guys had a day ahead of me so I was trying to stay on pace and catch up with those guys.”
Dawson didn’t look very rusty.
He drew rave reviews from several analysts on site and it bodes well for a guy who was a bit under the radar. Some prognosticators consider Dawson to be a candidate to separate himself from much of the rest of the cornerback field heading into April’s NFL draft.
During practices he’s shown the ability to stay tight with receivers in coverage and only had a few lapses. One knock against him has been his inability to get his head turned around quickly enough to make plays on the ball, but overall it’s been good news for Dawson.
“It’s pretty much what I’ve been doing my whole life, just competing to get better,” he said.
Dawson, like all the other players at the Senior Bowl, had to take in a flurry of questions from NFL scouts, a process compressed and intensified by his missing a day
“It’s new, man. There’s so much coming at you at one time, so I’m just taking it all in,” he said. “It’s great. Every play you have to compete at a high level. There are some of the best players in the nation here.” linebacker
has been showing this week he’s adept at playing multiple positions. He came to UCF out of St. Petersburg Lakewood as a defensive back. He and his brother,
, now a cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, were both known for their speed.
The younger Griffin has shown that speed during this week’s practices and it has played a big part in his versatility, especially getting downfield on special teams.
Griffin has been used at outside linebacker, as an edge rusher at the line of scrimmage, at safety and as a gunner in punt coverage. UCF
He measured in Monday at just 6-foot tall, a two-inch difference from what he was listed at UCF, but NFL player personnel people have not shown much concern about his lack of height. He weighed in at 222 pounds.
,a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle out of Fort Hays State in Kansas has been impressive this week, but that ended with an injury Wednesday. According to several reports, Shepard has a broken hand and is out for the rest of the week. Many scouts, however, do not believe the injury will hinder his draft stock. Shepard has likely already done enough and could be high on the list of several teams come April.