[Note by Joel, 02/03/10 8:53 AM EST ] Via Josh Ward's Twitter.
Loose hips!
It's one of the classic 'I watch way too much recruiting coverage' memes out there; discussing the hips on a 17-year old male is really very creepy in any other context. But the first things that pops out about this cornerback is just how flexible he really is.
Dixon has great acceleration from his 'wait for the blockers' running gait to a full-out spring. He can turn his hips very well, which allows him to make faster changes of direction. As a return man, he has the potential to make big gains out of little spaces with that maneuverability. If he plays corner as most seem to expect, that flexibility will allow him to keep up with receivers and even recover if beat on coverage.
His big project will be to learn zone coverage. Because of the system he played in, he hasn't had a lot of exposure to zone defense and he's not used to running backwards a whole lot. But the physical talent is obviously there. And at 5'-10", he could very well become to UT what Brandon James was to Florida.