David Dawson Shines At Columbus Camp
Kyle Meinke has an article filled with glowing praise for 2013 OL recruit David Dawson.
Trieu said while Morris draws the most attention, Dawson has made the most gains this offseason and is becoming a force in the Wolverines' heralded 2013 recruiting class. "He's really taken it to another level," Trieu said. "He plays tackle normally, but I project him as a guard in college, and that's what he played in Columbus. He looked fantastic."
Full article here (warning - MLive): http://annarbor.com/sports/um-football/ol-david-dawson-the-most-impressive-michigan-commit-at-columbus-recruiting-event/?cmpid=mlive-@mlive-wolverines
One of the mantras here on MGoBlog is that it's very hard to predict the success of OL recruits once they transition to college, but this 2013 OL class is looking great so far.
It's going to be very interesting to see how the numerous Michigan commits invited perform at the actual "The Opening" in Eugene. I can't say enough about what Hoke has accomplished thus far--character and talent, a rare combination.
Has there even been a negative thing said about an OL recruit?
I'm really looking forward to watching our RB's tear it up, and QB's have all day with a big pocket! Real excited to see these OL recruits mature and dominate the Big Ten!
Yes. On LTT - see Magnus for more details, and from what I've read lately he's underperformed at recent camps/contests.
Take what Magnus has to say with a grain of salt.
I'm loving everything I see from this staff's ability to identify talent. Their opinions trump the dogmess out of those from some dude who's seen the kids less than the staff has.
I wouldn't say LTT underperformed... I would say he was outperformed. I think everyone agrees (scouts, coaches, analysts) that LTT has a high ceiling... just like Charlton and Dawson have a high ceiling, but unlike Charlton and Dawson, LTT hasn't made as much progress towards that ceiling. It's still there, and he may very well still reach it (he's only a junior), but he's progressing slower, and thus getting less positive attention at the camps, etc.
LTT seemed the roughest or least polished of the OL recruits of the bunch. To really excel one has to gain a mastery of the ability to play the position with proper technique and cerebral play. Tougher to gain that or show that on the camp fronts, especially if he is out-of-shape (hey who isn't cause I am). Camps aren't always the greatest indications of future playing ability. Clearly LTT is big and has the ability to fill out and refine his ability to play the OT. Also, bigger guys in high school do not really need to rely on technique to succeed but once the playing field is levelled in college then one has to learn or just fade into mediocrity (see Campbell). I am not too worried about LTT; we will see how he develops down the road. If the coaches were concerned then they would have pursued someone else more but they wanted LTT and, thus, so do I.
He has also been playing through a Shoulder injury.
I think Dawson was just messing with people last night but he tweeted something along the lines of "I'm going to be on NCAA 14" and then followed it up with a "I wonder what jersey I will be wearing" follwed up by retweeting a Gator fan telling him he should be wearing blue and orange rather than blue and yellow.
I personally think David is all Blue but I hear the Gators are really recruiting him hard. I just hope it doesn't to turn into anything more.
Will probably get neg'ed for this, hearing that worries me. Especially after hearing that the Florida coaches were recently at his high school to recruit him. That's a long way to travel for a kid commited to another school. Makes me wonder why he (through his coaches) or his coaches wouldn't just tell the UF coaches not to waste their time and money. Lastly, in the video from the Nike NFTC from this weekend, he doesn't appear to be wearing any M apparel, nor does he seem too excited to be interviewed with the other Michigan recruits.
Yes, I understand that I am over-analyzing and reading too much into sketchy information on a 17 yr old recruit during an extremely slow time of the year when there's nothing else to do... just sayin...
Not sure why you would get negd for this. It's a valid concern, especially if Florida starts putting on a full-court press. It WOULD leave Michigan in a bit of a bind though, in that we turned away several good line recruits (Illinois kid that committed to ND, Pocic) for Dawson.
However, Dawson being at Cass Tech, having a future Wolvering as a teammate, having Coach Wilcher as his coach, makes me a little less worried.
Dawson had two Block-M bracelets on, one on each wrist FWIW (and I'm not reading too much into clothing choices)
I agree. A little worried but your points validate why we shouldn't be too concerned.
A Higgins Lake fan! I go there for about a week during the summer. Great place to visit.
You are probably worried because there aren't threads or comments posted every time he posts #goblue or #MichiganMan or #Team134, which happens every day.
Hell, last night he was recruiting Treadwell to Michigan.
You are exactly right... I am not a tweeter or twitter follower... and I feel much better reading that his pro-Michigan tweets far outnumber his cryptic UF teases. Thank you for that information.
Edit: And I suppose the UF coaches could have visited on the premise of recruiting/scouting any number of recruits at that powerhouse, it just bothers me because surely they have to have permission to be on campus, and if they were there specifically to scout Dawson, then the fact that they were given permission to be there implies some interest.
I wouldn't fret too much about that aspect. Remember, a couple weeks back Alabama visited Warren De La Salle to recruit Shane (#HALOL) and I would be absolutely stunned if Shane had even the vaguest interest, but that didn't stop an assistant from stopping by.
From his tweet it sounded like he had no idea the alabama coach (bobby williams) was visiting him, and then turned down the opportunity to meet him. Bobby was told to just leave a business card and sent on his way. I think coaches just show up a lot of times.
Not that any of us know what he will do, but he is just having some fun with the process. His tweets seem to want Michigan fans to care about wanting him, not saying that he cares. Its all fun. He is doing well on the camp circuit and is getting more and more deserved attention. He lacked that early on, but now is becoming wanted. Give him a break and lets see. If he was serious considering going to florida, he would not be tweeting that stuff about his uniform.
If you realize you're overanalyzing sketchy info, then why did you post it?... There are plenty of guys that just don't like being in front of the camera, and there are plenty of guys that are just serious people (See Fitz Touissant), not to mention the fact that his dad just passed away a couple weeks ago. It's not a requirement that every guy is bouncing off the walls about Michigan 24/7. Nor is it a requirement that he be constantly decked out in Michigan gear.
Oh, so we're not allowed to read into tweets regarding recruiting? Got it.
No one is overreacting here at all. But recruits often use twitter to communicate about their recruiting, so if we're going to read into the positive stuff, shouldn't we read into the worrisome stuff as well? It's not like anyone is bad-mouthing Dawson or acting like the sky is falling. Just asking if anyone knew anything further.
Huh? I think you misinterpreted the tone of my post. I didn't say anyone was overreacting, in fact everyone seems to be pretty level headed about it. I'm just responding to the implication that maybe we should be worried that he wasn't that excited in the interview and wasn't maize and blue from head to toe. None of the other guys were that excited either other than Shane. Didn't say anyone was badmouthing him either. I'm saying that we shouldn't read into twitter at all (a sentiment I know is shared by many on here) because any tweet could be a joke, and judging from the history of the 134 recruits, he could very easily just be messing with the Florida fans, as others have suggested, to generate some interest in his name. Making specific suggestions (which I was responding to) regarding vague and sketchy information is how rumors are started. The butterfly effect is very strong in the blogosphere.
That's fair.
If it makes you feel better, my two OSU buddies who were there heard him talking up Michigan nonstop.
I think Hoke has had 3 kids decommit, I think we are safe on this one!
There have been a lot of rumblings about UF and Dawson, to the point we should probably be concernedA bunch of random people on Twitter =/= "rumblings"
Do you think is he really was thinking about going elsewhere, why would he say it on twitter. to me its just a guy who may feel wanted. He is just having fun and looking for the support. As i remember Brown didnt say anythign on twitter until his trip and terry made quotes, but didnt go anywhere. he also never had as many pro michigan quotes as Dawson.
Compared to Shane Morris and LTT, even Desmond Howard is a guy to keep an eye on.
I'm not saying you're wrong for feeling that way, but I have none 0 nihil nada worry about David Dawson decommitting.
SEC fans have been talking trash about him decommitting for a while now; they're all under the impression Hoke is pressuring guys to commit and that's the only reason he's been successful. Same thing Ohio and MSU fans said.
Dawson and JD committed on the spot and I think that's indicative of how excited they are to become Wolverines.
Dawson is BLUE!!!
I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.
Haha I hadn't seen that in a while. Still laughing.
Very well-timed.
MANBALL!!!
Only problem is they showed up at his old school in Houston. Oops.
on the Ohio boards, all they wanted to talk about was how much bigger and ripped Billy Price was than David Dawson, of course not mentioning how he was stoned by him.
Also, I'd say 90% of dlineman would beat an Olineman in the "eyeball" test.
If anything that would make me even more excited about Dawson rather than Price. If he can shut him down with less muscle, in a one on one drill that favors D-linemen, imagine what he'll do after a couple years with Wellman and 3 titans helping him out on the line. Unbeatable.
This would be a good place for someone to embed the video of Dawson ripping the shirt of Billy Price during their Columbus camp.
My buddies who were there told me that when Price and Dawson went against each other it was about 50-50. Price is probably the better athlete, but is also less technically sound at this point than Dawson. The play where Price's shirt was ripped was called a hold. Also was told that they were both stand up acts and were sportsmen about it which is always good to hear.
Anyone else think Dawson could be a 5* before it's all said and done?
Yes, including some people at the recruiting services.
Well, he just got offered by LSU, too.
Spurrier's record after '96 wasn't bad:
97 10-2
98 10-2
99 9-4
00 10-3
01 10-2
97, 98, and 01 were ranked in the Top 5 at the end of the year depending on which poll you check. 2 BCS bowl wins in 3 appearances.
is a beast! LTT just had a bad day, just like Shane in Dallas it happens!GO BLUE!!!
It seems a lot of our recruits are trending upwards in the ranks