Daylan Dotson NFL Draft Scouting Report

Daylan Dotson, EDGE, UCF 

Size:

Height: 6’3” | Weight: 260 lbs

Accomplishments: 

Second-Team FCS All-America (2023) • First-Team All-OVC (2023, 2022)

“Daylan Dotson is a highly decorated prospect with the intuition and technical abilities to be a consistent rotational defensive lineman.”

Strengths:  

• Crafty hand usage in pass rush

• Can be effective from multiple alignments

• Productive and experienced

Concerns:

• Below-average frame 

• Doesn’t possess elite athleticism 

• Not a high-effort/relentless player

Film Analysis: 

A decorated defensive lineman at The University of Tennessee at Martin, Daylan Dotson will be a name to watch as he transitions from FCS football to the Big 12. Over his career at UT Martin, Dotson accumulated 37.5 tackles for loss and 18 sacks, making him one of the most productive defensive linemen in the country. Looking at where he’ll fit in for Gus Malzahn’s Knights, I expect Dotson to retain a similar role as he did at UT Martin, where he was primarily used as an edge defender with the circumstantial versatility to play from different alignments on the interior.

Dotson possesses a well-rounded skill set as both a pass rusher and run defender. The common attribute that contributes to his success is his hands and in-play processing. Against the run, Dotson has an instinctual ability to fit his hands to play through opposing linemen. When working against a single blocker, he was able to consistently use the opposing lineman's momentum to shed blocks and disrupt runners in the backfield. Similarly, the foundation of his pass rush comes from reading and understanding the pressure points of opponents, such as identifying low hands, high hands, jump sets, and oversets. This allowed Dotson to reactively take advantage of the weaknesses his opponents showed and is what made him so consistently productive throughout his FCS career.

The other side of this skill set is where Dotson might face trouble at the next level. Adjusting to the improved play of Big 12 linemen, Dotson will not be able to solely rely on the mistakes or technical failures of his opponents. I wish Dotson had more juice as an athlete and even as a player; without a high-end athletic profile, it’s questionable how his game will translate at the power-four level. Nonetheless, without yet seeing Dotson play this level of football, this is all speculation.

Dotson will need to show an improved motor on a play-to-play basis for me to feel comfortable in his ability to develop into an NFL-caliber player. There were several times on tape when Dotson was not meeting the football-character standards that the NFL requires. When an initial rush wouldn’t work or when the ball was run away from him, I didn’t see a relentless pursuit or true desire to impact a play at all costs. This is something Dotson can absolutely improve on and something that could significantly change the way evaluators see him. Finding ways to compensate for his lack of elite athleticism will be the best way to sell decision-makers on the translatability of his game.

Prospect Projection: Day 3 — Role Specific Contributor 

Exposures: Georgia (2023), Eastern Illinois (2023), Charleston Southern (2023), Samford (2023)

Daylan Dotson NFL Draft Scouting Report