Dalyn Daeel Dawkins (born December 26, 1994) is an American professional football running back who is a free agent. He played college football for the Colorado State Rams.

Dalyn Dawkins
refer to caption
Dawkins with the Tennessee Titans in 2018
Personal information
Born: (1994-12-26) December 26, 1994 (age 29)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Height:5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight:183 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school:Trinity (Louisville)
College:Colorado State
Position:Running back
Undrafted:2018
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Rushing attempts:11
Rushing yards:26
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

edit

Dawkins was born and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and attended Trinity High School. He rushed for 1,479 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior for the Shamrocks and was named second-team All-State by the Louisville Courier-Journal. Dawkins was rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and a four-star by Scout.com and was ranked the ninth-best college prospect in the state for the 2013 recruiting class and committed to play college football for Purdue over offers from Colorado State, Illinois, Cincinnati, Ball State and Western Kentucky.[1]

College career

edit

Dawkins began his collegiate career at Purdue. As a freshman Dawkins rushed for 115 yards on 32 carries with nine receptions for 84 yards in nine games for the Boilermakers. Following the season, Dawkins announced that he would be transferring to Colorado State University in part because of Purdue's pass-heavy offense.[2] After sitting out the 2014 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Dawkins played for the final three seasons of his eligibility with the Rams. As a redshirt sophomore, Dawkins appeared in 12 games (nine starts) and rushed for 867 yards on 170 carries and one touchdown along with 178 yards and one touchdown on 24 pass receptions.[3] He rushed for 919 yards on 161 carries with four touchdowns and 20 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown in 12 games (11 starts) the following season. As a senior, Dawkins rushed for 1,349 yards and eight touchdowns and had 100-yards rushing in seven of Colorado State's eight conference games and was named second-team All-Mountain West Conference.[4] He finished his career with 3,185 rushing yards, the third-most in CSU history, on 557 carries with 14 touchdowns and caught 70 passes for 650 yards and three touchdowns.[5]

Professional career

edit

Tennessee Titans

edit

Dawkins was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2018.[6] He was added to the active roster on September 18 and made his NFL debut on September 23 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.[7][8] He was waived on October 8, 2018, and was re-signed to the practice squad.[9][10] On November 13, 2018, he was promoted to the active roster after the Titans released Jalston Fowler.[11] Dawkins was waived by the Titans on December 3, 2018, and re-signed to the practice squad.[12] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on December 31, 2018.[13]

Dawkins made the Titans' 53-man roster out of training camp for the 2019 season but was waived after Week 1 on September 10, 2019, and re-signed to the practice squad.[14] He was promoted to the active roster on October 8, 2019.[15] He was waived on October 26 and re-signed to the practice squad.[16] Dawkins was signed to the active roster on December 21, 2019.[17] He was waived on December 23 and re-signed to the practice squad.[18] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on January 20, 2020.[19] He was waived on August 19, 2020.[20]

Detroit Lions

edit

On October 22, 2020, Dawkins was signed to the Detroit Lions' practice squad.[21] He was released two days later,[22] and re-signed to the practice squad on October 29.[23] He was released on November 4,[24] and re-signed to the practice squad again on November 11.[25] He was released again on December 15, 2020,[26] and re-signed to their practice squad again on December 23, 2020.[27]

Houston Gamblers

edit

Dawkins was selected in the 27th round of the 2022 USFL draft by the Houston Gamblers.[28] He was ruled inactive for the team's game against the New Orleans Breakers on May 8, 2022,[29] and moved back to the active roster on May 14.[30]

Personal life

edit

Dawkins is the nephew of Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins. His father, Ralph Dawkins, played college football as a running back for Louisville and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent, but never appeared in an NFL game due to injury.[31]

References

edit
  1. ^ Stephens, Matt L. (May 8, 2014). "Trinity grad Dalyn Dawkins transfers to Colorado State". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Lyell, Kelly (August 20, 2015). "Purdue transfer Dawkins carries a tune and a football". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Lyell, Kelly (August 23, 2016). "Dalyn Dawkins: Big punch in small package for CSU football". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  4. ^ Fredrickson, Kyle (November 29, 2017). "10 Colorado State Rams, 7 Wyoming Cowboys earn All-Mountain West football honors". Denver Post. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Madson, Kyle (April 28, 2018). "Titans 2018 undrafted free agent tracker". Titans Wire. USA Today. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  6. ^ "Dalyn Dawkins". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  7. ^ Curtis, Cory (September 18, 2018). "Titans continue to shuffle roster adding Durden, Dawkins". WKRN.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Dalyn Dawkins Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 8, 2018). "Titans Promote TE Anthony Firkser to 53-Man Roster". TitansOnline.com.
  10. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 10, 2018). "Titans Add WR Cameron Batson to 53-Man Roster, Sign Three to Practice Squad". TitansOnline.com.
  11. ^ Alper, Josh (November 13, 2018). "Titans promote Dalyn Dawkins, cut Jalston Fowler". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  12. ^ Wyatt, Jim (December 3, 2018). "Titans Sign RB Jeremy McNichols off Broncos' Practice Squad". TitansOnline.com.
  13. ^ "Titans Sign Nine Players to Futures Contracts". TitansOnline.com. December 31, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  14. ^ Wyatt, Jim (September 10, 2019). "Titans Bring Back OL Hroniss Grasu, Waive RB Dalyn Dawkins". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  15. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 8, 2019). "Titans Add K Cody Parkey and Two RBs – Rod Smith and Dalyn Dawkins – During a Flurry of Roster Moves". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Wyatt, Jim (October 26, 2019). "Titans Promote DB Kareem Orr, WR Kalif Raymond to 53-Man Roster". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  17. ^ Wyatt, Jim (December 21, 2019). "Titans Add RB Dalyn Dawkins to 53-Man Roster, Waive OLB Sharif Finch". TitansOnline.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  18. ^ Wyatt, Jim (December 23, 2019). "Titans Bring Back Receiver/Returner Darius Jennings, and Promote WR Rashard Davis to 53-Man Roster". TitansOnline.com.
  19. ^ "Titans Sign 10 Players to Futures Contracts". TitansOnline.com. January 20, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Wyatt, Jim (August 19, 2020). "Titans Agree to Terms with QB Trevor Siemian, Three Others, During a Flurry of Roster Moves". TennesseeTitans.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "Lions announce roster moves". DetroitLions.com. October 22, 2020.
  22. ^ Risdon, Jeff (October 24, 2020). "Lions bring back Beau Benzschawel and Arryn Siposs to the practice squad". USAToday.com. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  23. ^ Schlitt, Erik (October 29, 2020). "Detroit Lions release LB Elijah Lee, swap out practice squad players". USAToday.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  24. ^ Schlitt, Erik (November 4, 2020). "Detroit Lions sign TE Khari Lee to the practice squad, release RB Dalyn Dawkins". USAToday.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  25. ^ Schlitt, Erik (November 11, 2020). "Lions re-sign RB Dalyn Dawkins to practice squad, release DT Kevin Strong". USAToday.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  26. ^ Schlitt, Erik (December 16, 2020). "Lions protect same 4 players, release RB Dalyn Dawkins from practice squad". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  27. ^ Schlitt, Erik (December 23, 2020). "Lions activate Everson Griffen from reserve/COVID-19, Danny Shelton returns to practice". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  28. ^ "Houston Gamblers stock roster with 35 picks in USFL draft". Houston Chronicle. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  29. ^ @USFLGamblers (May 8, 2022). "Today's inactives vs the Breakers" (Tweet). Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ @USFLGamblers (May 14, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ Herz, Eddie (September 1, 2017). "NFL bloodlines: For Dalyn Dawkins, football runs in the family". Rocky Mountain Collegian. Retrieved May 18, 2019.[permanent dead link]
edit