Patriots top 5 draft busts -- Where are they now?
By Jon Galvin
No. 3 -- Duke Dawson
Facts: Draft Year: 2018
Round Selected: 2
Overall Pick: 56
Current Team: Pittsburgh Steelers. Dawson was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad in October 2022 and signed a futures/reserves contract with the Steelers in January 2023.
2022 Production: None
Alternative Picks – On the defensive side, the Pats could have selected future Pro Bowl linebacker Fred Warner, or on offense, they could have gone with tight end Mark Andrews and spared themselves the double misery of selecting TE washouts Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi in the 2020 draft. If the Pats desperately wanted a cornerback, they could have chosen Carlton Davis.
Comment: Davis, who has had a steady career with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would seem to have been a more logical choice than Dawson. In its 2022 review of CBs, Pro Football Focus noted of Davis that “No cornerback has forced more incompletions over the past three years of regular-season action than him (45).” Before the 2018 draft, Drafttek.com ranked Davis as its 6th-best CB and Dawson as its 12th-best CB.