Paul Dawson visits Bengals with one week until the draft

Cincinnati could be looking for a linebacker early in this year's NFL Draft.

The Bengals likely won't have Vontaze Burfict to start the season as he recovers from microfracture surgery. Even with him healthy, linebacker is one of Cincinnati's biggest weaknesses heading into 2015.

That explains why TCU's Paul Dawson just visited the Bengals, one week before the draft commences:

With Vontaze Burfict recovering from microfracture surgery, the #Bengals hosted #TCU LB Paul Dawson on a visit yesterday and today.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 21, 2015

Dawson was a force at TCU in 2014, leading the Horned Frogs' defense with 136 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and four interceptions on his way to being named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Dawson is best suited at WILL, and once Burfict is back, this would present an interesting scenario with two backers best suited at WLB on the roster.

However, because the Bengals  tend to play just two linebackers in their base nickel defense. Burfict could just move to the middle with Dawson as the other backer, giving Cincinnati a nice one-two punch.