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Signee Analysis: Linebacker Dawson Merritt

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI
By Jeremy Pernell | Last updated Feb 11, 2025 7:00 AM ET

I really like what Nebraska did in the transfer portal to address the departures of MJ Sherman (graduation) and Mikai Gbayor (transfer). Not only do their replacements — Dasan McCullough and Marques Watson-Trent — have the upside to be better than their predecessors, but their presence allows the coaches to allocate reps to the incoming linebackers the same way they were afforded to last season with true freshmen Vincent Shavers and Willis McGahee.

Those two saw their workloads increase as they grew more comfortable with the playbook and got accustomed to the speed and physicality of the Big Ten. With McCullough and Watson-Trent being seniors, not only do they provide veteran leadership, but they are essentially stopgap players who won't impede the long-term projections of the younger guys who have the talent to be multi-year starters.

After being incorporated into the lineup in various situations last season, Shavers is heading into his sophomore season as John Bullock's probable replacement at inside linebacker. McGahee is likely to see his snap count nearly double from what he got last season.

I anticipate the same career trajectory from Dawson Merritt — arguably the most ballyhooed member of Nebraska's incoming recruiting class.

Dawson's father is Dave Merritt, the current Kansas City Chiefs defensive backs coach who has three Super Bowl rings. He also has two more from his time with the New York Giants. That's also where he met Husker head coach Matt Rhule, having spent the 2012 season on Tom Coughlin's staff together.

As much as Dawson was around football growing up, basketball was his first love. He was focused on playing hoops throughout his youth and into high school. He didn't start playing tackle football until his freshman year at Stilwell (Kan.) Blue Valley High School.

When Merritt was an eighth grader, Tigers head coach Allen Terrell went to his middle school to hand out information for incoming ninth graders. His initial attempts to get Merritt to come out for football workouts fell on deaf ears, however. It wasn't until a group of Merritt’s friends decided to play and talked him into joining them that he gave the sport a try. He even surprised his parents when he told them in May 2021 that he wanted to go out for football.

He joined the team as a freshman playing both ways as a wide receiver and middle linebacker on junior varsity. Merritt’s first two seasons of football consisted of slow, gradual growth, and after deciding to concentrate solely on defense he began to develop a love for the game.

By his sophomore season, Merritt was starting on the varsity team, playing four quarters on varsity and two for junior varsity. Up until that point, he relied mostly on his athleticism to make plays on the field. His devotion to the sport didn't truly take hold until after his sophomore season.

Merritt attacked the offseason ahead of his junior year, gaining weight, putting on more muscle and getting faster. His father — an All-ACC linebacker at NC State — also got more hands-on with him after seeing he was finally taking his development seriously and gaining a passion for the sport. He started coming to Dawson's practices whenever his schedule allowed.

Merritt camped at Iowa State in June 2023 and was dominant. He planned to hit up a few more school camps that summer but got hurt and the Cyclone event was the only camp he could attend. No matter, his time was about to arrive.

Game one of his junior year, Merritt showed tremendous improvement and would go on to be an unstoppable force for Stilwell Blue Valley. He got his first offers from Iowa State, Boston College and Michigan State within a week of each other in September, then saw his profile explode as he became a bona fide national recruit and one of the most coveted second-level defenders in the country.

Merritt garnered over 20 Power Four scholarship offers in a five-month span, with Nebraska joining the mix on Nov. 7. Linebacker was a key position of need in the 2025 cycle and Merritt was arguably the most important recruit on Nebraska’s board.

That fall, Merritt attended regional games at Kansas State, Iowa State, Nebraska and Kansas while his stock was steadily climbing. He was a hot commodity during the January contact period with several coaches coming to visit him. He came out of the month with a top group of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Ole Miss, Kansas and USC.

He took spring visits to Ole Miss and Oklahoma and initially planned to take June officials to both Oklahoma and Missouri, but after a pair of spring visits to Alabama and Nebraska, he fairly quickly whittled his recruitment down to the Crimson Tide and Huskers.

Merritt took a visit to Lincoln April 13 to watch a spring practice and planned to return in June for his official visit. Merritt had wanted to return a few weeks later for the Red-White spring game on April 27. There was just one problem; the NFL Draft started on Thursday, April 25, and would run through Saturday of the game. However, when Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid found out, he encouraged his assistant to leave and for the family to go take the visit.

Despite not being asked until Wednesday about changing Merritt's visit to the upcoming weekend, Matt Rhule and his staff made arrangements for the family to attend. Dawson and his mother drove to campus while the team had his father driven to Lincoln and flew his brother in for the game.

During Merritt’s unofficial visit to Nebraska in April, he and his family connected with Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and his family. Raiola hosted Merritt during his official visit two weeks later and the families continued to bond during the weekend's festivities. Nebraska had a lot of momentum in April, but Alabama did a great job of keeping pace.

One of Merritt's first offers came from Washington on Oct. 23, 2023. When Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama on Jan. 12, 2024, he continued to prioritize Merritt, officially re-offering him on Feb. 14 and getting him on campus for the first time March 22. Merritt was back in Tuscaloosa on April 20, a week before he took his official visit to Nebraska.

Merritt's official visit to Alabama came the weekend of June 7 and he began trending toward the Crimson Tide not long after. He publicly committed to Alabama on June 26, although he had informed coaches of his intentions almost a week earlier.

Despite his commitment, Merritt, who had largely shut down his recruitment, maintained communication with the Huskers. Rhule and the rest of Nebraska's staff continued their relentless pursuit, with assists coming from quarterback Dylan Raiola and even from ex-players like Prince Amukamara and Cam Taylor-Britt who were active on social media with Dawson and his father.

Nebraska upped the intensity after its July hire of Jamar Mozee as a senior offensive analyst. Mozee has been a recruiting force in the Kansas City area and he made Merritt priority No. 1 after arriving from Central Florida.

With the Huskers still having Merritt's ear, Dylan Raiola suggested that he return to Lincoln for Nebraska’s game against Colorado on Sept. 7. Merritt did and was blown away by the atmosphere. "It was crazy," Merritt said following the visit. "That was probably the craziest game I've ever been to personally including Chiefs games. The difference between going to a Nebraska game and a normal game is if you're blowing a team out usually the fans calm down. Fans at Nebraska are getting louder in third and fourth quarter. It's just electric there. Then there's the team. They really do give off the vibe they are going to turn the program around."

Merritt returned to Tuscaloosa a few weeks later on Sept. 28 to watch Alabama take on Georgia. By then, Merritt was once again torn between the two schools.

Matt Rhule and linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek were at Merritt's high school game on Oct. 10 during their first bye week, and the Huskers really started to gain momentum from that point. By early November, there was a giant buzz that a flip was imminent, with insiders from multiple recruiting sites calling for it.

The hard work and persistence paid off. Ultimately, it was Merritt's belief in the program Rhule is building, coupled with his relationship with Dvoracek that won him over. He decommitted from Alabama and pledged to the Huskers on Nov. 14, and subsequently returned to Lincoln a week later for Nebraska's final home game against Wisconsin on Nov. 23.

Merritt was a three-year starter for Blue Valley, helping lead the Tigers to three consecutive trips to the state tournament. He was named first-team all-state as a junior and senior and was a finalist for Kansas 5A Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. In his final two seasons, he collected 141 tackles with 14 sacks and 28 tackles for loss. He also added four pass breakups, seven forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

He's a consensus four-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 103 (247Sports), No. 103 (ESPN) and No. 146 (On3) player in the country. He was scheduled to play in the Under Armour All-American Bowl, but couldn't take part because his senior season was cut short after eight games due to a partially torn labrum that is likely going to keep him out of spring practices.

Currently listed as 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds with 34-inch arms, Merritt's combination of athleticism, instincts and violence is hard to find. He played as a hybrid outside linebacker/pass rusher for Blue Valley, a role not unlike the Jack position he's likely going to play in Nebraska's defense.

Similarly, Alabama recruited him to play the Wolf position in defensive coordinator Kane Wommack's 4-2-5 defensive scheme. The Wolf and Jack positions are a lot alike. The Wolf is asked to rush the passer from the outside edge while also having the ability to drop back as a strongside linebacker and play in coverage. It's an extremely important position in Wommack's system because they're asked to do so many different things and whoever is lining up at that spot needs to be multiple and be versatile.

Alabama is one of the country's preeminent programs. The Crimson Tide can go anywhere in the country to find players, and the fact they identified and prioritized Merritt specifically for that position should let you know the kind of player Nebraska's getting.

Merritt shows quickness off the snap, fluidity, bend and top-level closing speed. He has little wasted motion and possesses excellent change of direction ability and can get sideline-to-sideline. He also has the ability to drop into space and be an asset in coverage, with his length and instincts allowing him to close windows in the passing game.

He offers a lot of versatility on the second level and can play several roles depending on the scheme. He seems tailor-made for the Jack spot, but he could also eventually settle as a Will in this current defense too. He has the potential to be a really good pass rusher while also having the skillset to thrive as an off-ball linebacker who can freelance in space.

I'm expecting immediate playing time for Merritt, and his long-term potential is through the roof. He has the frame to eventually add another 20 to 30 pounds while maintaining his athleticism. If he reaches his ceiling as a player, he's going to be a tremendous defensive chess piece. A guy with the ability to beat your tackle for a sack on one play, while jumping a route and intercepting a pass on the next.

Merritt has the sort of talent that raises the ceiling of the entire defense. He has the makings of a future game-changer.