I have thought and continue to think that Church could be a very good WLB in Marinelli's scheme. I also think Dixon could if given a chance.
I know it won't happen for either one of them but I think it would be worth taking a look at. There are always big hitting safeties in college that don't quite cover well enough for the pros.
Thomas Davis is the poster boy for the college safety to NFL OLB. He was a big hitting safety at Georgia who was questionable in coverage and the Panthers drafted him and promptly moved him to WOLB. He was a tad slow and not great in coverage for a safety... but he had rare speed and terrific coverage for a LB.
It has always made sense to me to make that move if you run a 43 defense where speed is paramount over just about anything else. Dixon seems like a really good candidate for that move. It doesn't happen very often in the NFL though, so I guess there are more issues with it than I'm seeing, with size being the main drawback. Dixon is 6-0 215, so he would have to put on about 20 pounds eventually, but that is doable for sure.
Anyway, I'm not really banging on my drum for them to make the move, because I know they won't do it. I'm just saying that it has always seemed like a good idea to me when you have a guy like Church or Dixon. It certainly worked extremely well for Carolina with Thomas Davis. I do think that Davis weighed a little more (around 225 IIRC), but not that much more. Like Dixon he was well known for his big hits and toughness.
