STRENGTHS
Dawand is a big, tall, long-armed mountain of a human being. In spite of his very large size, he has good movement skills and foot quickness and does a good job when pass blocking and in run block situations. Dawand has the quickness off the snap of the ball needed to be successful in the NFL. He is able to go out to the second level and make blocks as well as lead on sweeps to his side of the line. Dawand’s long arms, solid first-step lateral agility, and ability to be quick off the snap will allow him to make blocks that most players his size and weight could not make for the next level. Dawand has the potential to be a pro bowl Right tackle for the team that selects him and because he plays with a lot of pride could be a plug-and-play offensive lineman the day after you select him in the draft.
CONCERNS
Don’t ask him to lead a sweep or pull all the way to the other side of the field because that’s just too much for him and will abuse his athletic abilities. Although he carries his weight very well, to protect his knees and back you would like to see him get into the 360lbs range. At the Senior Bowl and Combine he was listed at 375lbs and that shows that his weight is steady and not a lot of garbage weight and that’s a good thing.
BOTTOM LINE: 2.06
Draft him and don’t be stupid thinking you are going to move him to the left side or make him do athletic blocks that he will not be able to do. Accept him as is, a dam good Right Tackle. With continued good coaching he can be a pro bowl right tackle and control the right side of your offensive line for ten years. I suspect Dawand to be selected a lot earlier than most think. In fact, I even think he could slip into the back half of the 1st round because there are not many offensive tackles in this draft and he is a pretty good player in spite of what most are suggesting. Dawand is a mountain of a human being and teams do not pass up on selecting human beings this big for very long in a draft when there are no obvious off-field or on-field concerns. Dawand looks to me like he will be an excellent teammate with a good work ethic and is very coachable. Add to that his ability to be an excellent pass protector and a solid run blocker and tell me you would downgrade him because he is too big. Does that make a lot of sense to you? It doesn’t to me. I can envision him slipping into the 1st round and if not, I would be very surprised to see him last for very long in the 2nd round but, that’s just me and believe it or not, I’ve been wrong before. Look at Rob’s value board for the most likely point in this draft where he would be selected.
