Hello: David Dawson
I now know how it feels to be Annyong Bluth.
Welcome to the fourth(!!!) commitment post of the day, for Cass Tech OL David Dawson. He joins Kyle Bosch, Wyatt Shallman, and teammate Jourdan Lewis in pledging to the Wolverines today in what's clearly a massive conspiracy to force me to work for an entire Saturday/give me carpal tunnel syndrome/turn my keyboard into a smoldering hunk of plastic and aluminum. There might be another commitment coming, as well. If that's the case, you'll have to excuse me for putting off the post until tomorrow. I've heard there's a basketball game tonight.
Anyways, on to Dawson.
GURU RATINGS
Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 24/7 Sports |
NR OT |
4* OT, #199 Ovr |
NR OG | 4*, 90, #28 OT |
Another four-star! There's some disagreement about whether Dawson is a tackle or a guard—I think he'll end up playing inside at Michigan—but his recruitment has blown up in recent weeks and it appears the ratings will follow suit. Dawson is listed at anywhere between 6'2" (ESPN, a low outlier) and 6'5", with the general consensus that he's around 6'4", 305 pounds.
Dawson really started getting noticed on the camp circuit last summer. He spent his first two seasons of high school ball at Cass Tech before moving to Houston for his junior year. Though he's back at Cass Tech for his senior season, the year in Texas explains why he pops up on this Rivals list of the top underclassmen in the Southwest ($):
Dawson is actually a well-known prospect in another region of the country as he moved to Texas from Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech late in the summer. The big junior is a road-grading offensive lineman that is very solid in the running game and could end up possibly moving inside at the next level. He put on a show at several camps and combines over the spring and summer and, being the fertile recruiting area of Houston, should see his stock take off after a few more games this season.
While it took a little longer than Brian Perroni expected for Dawson's recruiting stock to soar, you'll see in his offer list that this indeed happened eventually. Allen Trieu caught Dawson as the Best of the Midwest event last February, naming him the Underclassman MVP ($):
Detroit Cass Tech's David Dawson had a great season and has had a good start to the off-season at the camps and events he has been to. At 6-4, 290, I think he's a future guard still, but he can play inside or outside and has good technique and strength. He was one of the better linemen fundamentally, which was impressive for a young guy.
That's a pretty solid consensus that Dawson projects best to guard, and this is echoed in other reports, as well; that certainly makes sense given his height. Josh Helmholdt evaluated Dawson at last summer's Sound Mind Sound Body camp, placing him in a class with five-star Notre Dame commit Steven Elmer ($):
While Elmer is the early favorite to be the top offensive line target in the state of Michigan, Detroit Cass Tech's David Dawson is likely to push him for that honor. The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder has outstanding technique for a young lineman, and his strength belies his years. He was nearly unbeatable in one-on-ones and promises to be one of the state of Michigan's top talents in the 2013 class.
Technique and strength repeatedly come up when Dawson is discussed; it sounds like he's a pretty polished offensive lineman for his age and he has the physicality to make good use of those technical skills.
More recently, Dawson was named first-team all-combine at the U.S. Army Bowl, being mentioned along with Brendan Mayhon and Dorian Miller for being "immovable objects on the line [who] also moved their feet well for being so massive."
OFFERS
Dawson's offer list ballooned in the last couple of weeks. Before committing to Michigan, he held offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, EMU, Florida State, Indiana, Mizzou, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, and West Virginia. He also had interest from Colorado, Houston, Iowa, LSU, Miami (YTM), Michigan State, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
STATS
No stats for offensive linemen.
FAKE 40 TIME
Rivals lists a 40 time of 5.4 seconds, which, um, doesn't sound fake at all. One FAKE out of five, in the hopes that he's actually a bit faster. Considering he's lauded for moving his feet well in his most recent camp appearance, I'd like to think so.
VIDEO
Junior highlights:
There's also sophomore highlights and camp film from the Best of the Midwest combine on the YouTubes.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Dawson should slide in at guard along with Kyle Bosch in this class, giving Michigan a pair of top-notch interior linemen. Given Dawson's frame, I think it's also a possibility that the Wolverines think of him as a possibility at center, a huge need for this class. Either way, Michigan could use the depth on the line as soon as the 2013 season, and Dawson provides a high-quality option moving forward along the interior of the line. I'm sure I'll have more on him in the fall, as I'll doubtlessly be taking in at least one—if not more—Cass Tech games this season.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Two offensive linemen down, both likely interior players, means Michigan can go after a couple of high-quality tackles—say, Ethan Pocic and Logan Tuley-Tillman, to throw a couple names out there. We'll see if Michigan thinks they can move Dawson to center or if they decide to pick up another prospect who's actually listed at that position; thus far, the Wolverines haven't offered one, but there's no way they can go through this recruiting cycle without taking a player who can fill that need.
All in all, Michigan now has seven spots filled in a class that should go up to 20-22 players. Six of those players are four-star prospects to at least two recruiting sites, with four of those players committing today. To say the least, this has been a remarkable day—and it might not be over—and a great start in general for Michigan's 2013 class.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^
I was thinking today was going to be a good day overall, so I decided to wear my Michigan football jersey with player # 1, and lo and behold, 4 commitments from 4 top national prospects. Guess I'm not washing this jersey anytime soon so I can keep good luck going.
Love the commitment of Dawson; going to be a great road grader for the Michigan OL. Time for some tackles in the class now; Pocic and LTT, come on down.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
Loved the first paragraph, and thanks for posting all of these on what's arguably Michigan's biggest home basketball game in years.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
Keep up the good work Ace. You have been absolutely tremendous today and you might not even be done.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:40 PM ^
Does this mean we have permission to slap the shit out of you?
February 18th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
Ahhhhh, I'm not complaining! This is great. Plus, Annyong totally got the last laugh.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
I love it Offensive Lineman now if we could bring in a couple massive and skilled DT's ...Im a firm believer that everything starts in the trenches ..
February 18th, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^
Considering
1. our depth chart
2. We haven't even offered an OL who's listed at Center
3. His first name is David (continuing the tradition of UM centers)
the coaches must be thinking of converting some of these OL offerees to Center and Dawson, witht he combo of technique and strength sounds like a good candidate for that
Welcome sir, may an All American career as a Wolverine come for you
February 18th, 2012 at 5:36 PM ^
sorry for the double post, so i give you;
February 18th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^
Good work today, enjoyed reading all the Hello material. I DO have to give you special credit for the Arrested Development reference.
February 18th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
With the recruits we are getting the other teams should be scared to face Michigan, starting in 2013 and beyond...
February 18th, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^
Based on the picture above it looks like Mr. Dawson is one who likes to chew his mouthpiece like I used to do back in the day. I Had to get a new one almost every week. Anyway, I'm very happy he is a Wolverine and let's hope for some more commits!
February 18th, 2012 at 5:04 PM ^
If you're interested, here's my write-up on Dawson:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2012/02/david-dawson-wolverine.html
February 18th, 2012 at 5:41 PM ^
That's a pretty BA picture of him you've got on your write-up
February 18th, 2012 at 7:26 PM ^
February 18th, 2012 at 5:26 PM ^
Ba da ba ba baaaaa, I'm lovin' it.
If we extrapolate on the number of players who committed today, we're going to have a class well over 1000 by next signing day, and all of the rivals 250. Saban would be proud.
February 18th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^
Wow, wth happened? Four commits in a day! I usually check Mgoblog obsessively, but not today and I come back to see this. I should go away more often.
February 18th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
bosch is considered an interior guy??
February 18th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^
He's probably going to play guard.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:21 PM ^
gotcha. any chance dawson can slide in and play center?? seems to me hes a bit too tall
February 18th, 2012 at 8:09 PM ^
What a great pick up for Hoke and his staff. They really starting to get all the best players in the state of Michigan, and they are doing it early. Welcome David Dawson and good luck in your senior year at Cass Tech. Go Blue!
February 18th, 2012 at 9:30 PM ^
is Dantanio having?
February 19th, 2012 at 7:20 AM ^
new recuit pik up gif.
February 19th, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^
means MOAR KATE UPTON!!!!
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