Vontaze Burfict was a good college linebacker whose draft stock slipped so badly in 2012 that he wasn’t selected at all. The Bengals signed him as an undrafted free agent, and that turned out to be a brilliant move, as Burfict developed into a Pro Bowl linebacker.
Now the Bengals think they’ve done it again by drafting Paul Dawson.
Once viewed as a first-round linebacker, Dawson’s draft stock dropped as well, and the Bengals grabbed him on Friday night with the last pick of the third round. Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said afterward that Dawson reminds him a lot of Burfict.
“Honestly when I turned the tape on initially to evaluate him that’s exactly who came to mind,” Guenther said of the Burfict-Dawson similarities. “He’s actually an ex-receiver in high school and he just started playing linebacker. When he got to TCU we know they coach them hard down there and they run a very good scheme and one thing you can’t coach is great instincts. He doesn’t take many false steps.”
With Dawson joining Burfict, Rey Maualuga, Emmanuel Lamur and A.J. Hawk, the Bengals feel very good about what they have at linebacker.