A Scout's Latest Take on Linebacker Paul Dawson and His Draft Status

The 2015 NFL draft is less than a month away now. One of the biggest needs for the Green Bay Packers going into the draft is at the inside linebacker position.

There are a number of inside linebackers the Packers could be interested in selecting in either the first or second round of the upcoming draft.

This group includes Eric Kendricks of UCLA, Benardrick McKinney of Mississippi State, Denzel Perryman of Miami, Stephone Anthony of Clemson and Paul Dawson of TCU.

I had an opportunity to talk with NFL scout Chris Landry about both Anthony and Dawson after the NFL Scouting Combine, at which Dawson had a very disappointing performance.

For instance, Dawson ran just a 4.93 in the 40 and leaped only 28 inches in the vertical jump.

That workout didn't make a lot of sense, as his play on the football field for the Horned Frogs showed him to be a very solid and productive defender.

In 2014, Dawson had 128 tackles, 18.5 tackles for a loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles and four interceptions for TCU.

Even after the bad workout at the combine, NFL Media draft analyst Mike Mayock still had Dawson ranked as his top linebacker in position rankings for the 2015 draft.

Landry talked about Dawson's bad day at the combine.

"I love the kid from TCU," Landry said. "But I've got to go to Dallas because he and the safety [Chris Hackett] had awful workouts.

"So, I've got to find out. Were they dead-legged? Did they not train? Did they train inappropriately or didn't rest enough? Or are there some other issues going on, because they play a lot faster than 4.8 or 4.9 at safety and linebacker.

"They play like 4.5 guys. So, we got to figure that out. Remember what I say. The combine is a 90 percent rule. Ninety percent of the time, the workout matches the tape. It's the 10 percent that doesn't. That's when you have to do more work.

"Those two [Dawson and Hackett] fall into the 10 percent. So stay tuned."

The trip to "Big D" that Landry was talking about was this past Sunday, as TCU had their pro day. Dawson performed much better this time, as he improved his 40 time to 4.78.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

I wanted to get Landry's latest take on Dawson after his pro day workout, and I had that chance this past Friday on 620 WDAE's Steve Duemig Show.

"He [Dawson] did pretty well," Landry said. "I love this guy. He's just one heck of a football player. He's instinctive. He's productive. He's tough. He's a little undersized. Great quickness. Great change of direction. He's just a son of a gun.

"They [coaching staff at TCU] just don't like him over there. He's just a pain in the rear to coach. He does his own thing. He just shows up and makes plays. And he's one of those guys that you wonder about.

"He gambles a lot and he makes a lot of plays. But he's got to be a more disciplined player. As a result, he's going to scare some people away. I don't know how far he drops. I mean if you look at him on tape, and you just look at the tape, this guy is an outstanding player.

"But I've got a shield on him, and I've got an early second-round grade on him. But he scares me. Everyone who I deal with, you just don't know what you are going to get with the guy. Plays well, yes. But to be a pro, you are going to have to do things differently than he's been able to do it."

The Packers have the 30th pick in the first round on April 30. Would they dare take a player like Dawson with that pick? Landry has Dawson rated as an early second-round pick, which is in that area code.

Or perhaps the Packers will trade back a few slots into the second round and pick up an early fourth-round pick.

That is what the Packers did in the 2008 NFL draft, when they traded out of the 30th position in the first round of the draft and picked up early second- and fourth-round selections from the Jets. The second-round pick was used to select wide receiver Jordy Nelson.

I would say that draft-day trade worked out well.

The Packers could also do what they did in the 2012 NFL draft. They kept their late first-round pick but traded up twice to get two second-round selections. The Packers had to give up four picks to get that done, however.

The cost was a second-, a third-, a fourth- and a fifth-round selection to get two picks in Round 2 of that particular draft.

The result? The Packers drafted outside linebacker Nick Perry in the first round and then selected defensive lineman Jerel Worthy and cornerback Casey Hayward in the second round.

Maybe the Packers can do half of that in 2015 and trade up once to earlier in the second round. That would cost the team their own second- and fourth-round picks.

Time will tell what will happen in terms of trades with the Packers in the upcoming draft. You just never know with Ted Thompson. In the 2014 draft, he didn't make any trades.

Time will also tell what will happen with Dawson. The talent is obviously there for him to succeed in the NFL, but he will need to change his ways.

If the Packers are convinced that he will, then we might see Dawson wearing the colors of the Packers after the upcoming draft.