INDIANAPOLIS -- TCU linebacker Paul Dawson arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine looking to prove his athleticism and respond to concerns about his character.
Dawson is NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock's top linebacker in the 2015 NFL Draft and was expected to strengthen his case as a potential first-round pick if he could assure teams that he was not going to be an issue off the field.
Whatever hopes he had of quieting critics in Indianapolis, however, seemed to end by the time he walked off the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Dawson did not fare well when facing questions from the media this week and was widely panned by analysts and scouts for his 4.93-second 40-yard dash time; he was near the bottom of his group in just about every other testing category.
The criticism of his combine showing appeared to ruffle his feathers enough to prompt a response on Twitter a few hours later.
While it's true that nobody thought Dawson was going to run a super fast 40, the slow time will no doubt force many clubs to reevaluate the talented linebacker.
Dawson has plenty of great tape available for scouts to watch, but unless he improves his numbers at TCU's pro day next month, it appears he is leaving the combine with his stock pointed downward.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
