Recruiting Q&A: DE Everett Dawkins

Jim Baxter from SCVarsity.com who is its publisher was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding Everett Dawkins who has committed to FSU. Dawkins is from South Carolina and plays defensive end for Byrnes High School in Duncan,South Carolina. He gave his oral commit to FSU in November.

1. I have asked this question of others regarding FSU recruits. It seems that schools such as FSU now are as concerned about character as much as the athlete's skills. What can you tell me about Everett Dawkins the person?

Everett Dawkins is a beast in workouts and on the field. His work ethic is strong and he's a great kid. No troubled background, no skeletons in the closet. He's a football player first.

2. Can you rate his verbal commit to the Noles on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being a solid commit.

I think he's pretty solid on his commitment, but I'd say a 4 instead of 5 simply because he is 17 years old and hasn't signed the dotted line yet.

3. Dawkins is described as being very explosive off the ball. Would you agree and if true, what are his other major skills?

He's extremely explosive off of the ball. We have a facility in Columbia (SC) (Athletes Arena) and Byrnes (High School) sent some of their kids down for us to help prepare them for some combines last year. Dawkins was one of them. One of the tests that we do is called a Tendo score. We hook this up to the kids when they do their vertical jump and it measures the meters per second that they move and the watts of power generated by their movement. It is basically a measure of their explosiveness. Dawkins' score was VERY high - the highest we had for any of the kids that we trained last year and we had kids like Quinton Richardson (USC), Mark Barnes (USC) Gary Gray (Notre Dame), Charles White (UGA) in our place.

4. Some have questioned his size and the position he will play in college. What are your thoughts regarding those?

The knock on him is his size. Some list him at 6-3. I think he's more 6-2. I think he can play weakside end, but I'm not a college coach...the thing you have with Dawkins, however, is a player that can play anywhere you put him because of his athleticism. Because of needs at Byrnes, he's played everything from OL to DL, DE, and even some LB. Regardless of where they play him, he will be productive for you. You guys got a legitimate four star player and one of the best in our state this year - as a player and a person.