Sheldon Dawson to Georgia: Where Does the Two-Way Player Fit in With Bulldogs?

Sheldon Dawson has been a longtime Memphis Tigers commit, giving his pledge to the Tigers in July of 2011. Dawson took an official visit to Georgia back in December and has since been high on the Bulldogs.

He also took an official visit to Ole Miss, but finally settled on the Bulldogs as his choice of schools.

Dawson was an electric player in high school out of Ridgeway High School in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a very skilled runner who can change direction quickly even in full stride. He has shown the ability to threaten and create big plays to the outside, but he lacks the ideal speed to be a consistent home-run threat.

Dawson is a very good defensive player as well. He plays the ball very well and shows the ability to read the quarterback and make plays on the football in zone coverage. Dawson is not a big defender, so he doesn’t fit particularly well in the box, but he does close to the football well and is an aggressive striker.

He will arrive at Georgia as an athlete who will be able to fill a number of roles for the Bulldogs. Dawson reminds me a lot of a Brandon Boykin or Branden Smith type. He will be a versatile player and could serve time on special teams in the return game.

With Dawson’s history as a tailback, he may see some time there as well in the red and black as Georgia has had a wealth of inconsistency beyond rising sophomore Isaiah Crowell. The Bulldogs are bringing in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall in this class, however, so defensive back may end up being his final position—much like Branden Smith.

Georgia has been known for its active defensive backs in the past and, this season, the Bulldogs saw Bacarri Rambo finish second in the country in interceptions and first in the conference. Georgia will look to Dawson to fill a role in the secondary that could come early in nickel back sets.

Dawson is a bit undersized for the class height-wise, which has a lot to do with the lack of major program offers. Given his aggressive play and football playing speed, Dawson has the chance to be the diamond in the rough, so to speak, for this Bulldogs class.

Georgia is not found in the top 10 of any major recruiting projection as of yet, but with guys like Dawson in the fold, the rankings aren’t as important as they appear.

Look for Dawson to develop well under Todd Grantham’s scheme. 

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