First, any animation studio will want to see that an artist has solid drawing skills. The ability to communicate ideas through sketches or storyboards can only help you in developing your own stories.
Is there any correlation between the two?
Yes
Computer (3D) animation and traditional animation both attempt to achieve one thing, the illusion of life or movement. In order to properly convey that illusion, you need to be able to apply certain principles into your work. Learning to draw using these principles will help you visualize and quickly adjust poses or "keys".
A little history:
When computer animation was first hitting the industry in the late 70s and early 80s animation was stiff, and not very believable by today's standards. John Lasseter, a brillantly talented, traditional animator, was contracted by Industrial Light and Magic to do a short film called André and Wally B. This computer generated film was the beginning of a movement that brought traditional animation methods and techniques to computer generated films.
Do I need to hone my drawing skills further before going digital or
can I just dive right into the digital world? Both.
I say that because you can work on both in order to build your skills up a little faster. Take some figure drawing classes, or just get outside and sketch people quickly as they walk by. Take note of the shapes of certain poses. Learn the basics of your 3D software of choice (I use Maya).
Blender is a popular one because it's free/open source and there's a pretty large community.