NFL Draft Profile: LB Jamin Davis

Could Kentucky’s Jamin Davis be in play for Washington in the first round?

Update: Washington drafted Davis with the 19th overall pick. A new post on Davis can be found here

Adding a linebacker will likely be high on Washington’s list of priorities as it enters the NFL draft. I’ve previously looked at the consensus top linebacker Micah Parsons, but his talent probably sees him drafted before Washington is on the clock at 19. The group of linebackers behind Parsons has mixed reviews, but one player that seems to intrigue draft analysts is Kentucky linebacker Jamin Davis. 

Davis is listed at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds, offering a strong blend of size and athletic ability. He has limited experience and was part of a linebacker rotation at Kentucky, but when he was on the field he displayed traits that make him attractive to the modern NFL. What stands out most is his ability in coverage. Linebackers have to be able to cover if they are to play regularly in the NFL today and Davis excels in this area.

This is a textbook example of playing zone coverage by Davis. The offense attempts to run a high-low concept, with the slot receiver to the right running a basic cross at about 12 yards while the slot receiver to the left runs a shallow cross underneath. The idea is to put a zone coverage defender in a bind, forcing him to pick between sinking deep and giving up the potential yards after the catch underneath, or stepping up and giving up the deeper throw behind him. Davis plays this perfectly though. He doesn’t take the bait underneath, sinking back into his zone and underneath the deeper route to take that throw away. This forces the quarterback to dump the ball off on the shallow cross, where Davis can then rally down to the ball to make the tackle.

Davis is a strong zone defender. He understands his zone responsibilities but also knows how to follow the quarterback’s eyes to lead him to the football.

On this play, the offense combines a mesh concept with a dagger concept. Two receivers run shallow crossing routes in opposite directions as part of the mesh concept while the outside receivers to the left execute a dagger concept. Kentucky rotates to a Cover-3 look with Davis playing one of the underneath zones. He sits in the middle of the field with his eyes on the quarterback, ready to drive on either of the underneath crossing routes. However, he spots the quarterback looking further down the field and follows his eyes towards the dig route on the dagger concept. From the end zone replay angle, you can see Davis locate the throw and work towards the target location. He reaches out and shows off his length, getting his hand on the ball to tip the pass just before it arrives at the receiver. That tip causes the ball to arrive at an awkward angle, resulting in the receiver dropping the pass.

Davis is also capable of playing man coverage, though he wasn’t asked to do it that often. Most of the time he played in zone coverages, but sometimes had to turn and run with running backs and tight ends down the field. He has plenty of athleticism to perform such tasks.

Here, Florida looks to attack Kentucky up the seam with the running back out of the backfield. Davis takes a moment to process the jet sweep fake in the backfield before turning to run with the back up the seam. He shows no issues being able to stay with the running back up the seam, running stride for stride with him. This prevents the quarterback from taking a shot that typically would be a positive matchup for the offense and results in the quarterback looking elsewhere before eventually getting sacked.

That ability to turn and run is vital, even in zone coverages. Sometimes zone defenders have to carry routes down the field in situations where they know other zone defenders will be occupied by other routes. It’s also important to have the speed to recover when beaten on certain routes, which Davis also has.

This time, Florida sends star tight end Kyle Pitts on a deep over route. Davis initially bites up on the play-action fake, which is the design of this play. However, he has the speed to recover as he turns and runs with Pitts across the field. Pitts does have a step on Davis, which suggests the quarterback could throw it out in front of him, however Kentucky has other defenders in the area which make that option tough. The quarterback would much prefer to put it right on Pitts, but Davis positions himself well and despite being in recovery mode, he stays with Pitts and maintains a good position that prevents the quarterback from throwing the ball directly to him. The quarterback ends up trying to throw the ball outside towards the sideline, which Pitts can’t ever catch up to, but Davis showed great effort right to the end and even dived to try and get a hand in at the potential catch point, though the ball sailed out of bounds.

The coverage upside is there for Davis, which makes him an attractive option for NFL teams that look for more athletic coverage linebackers that can hold up in passing situations rather than traditional run stopping linebackers. However, linebackers do still have to be able to play the run. In the games I watched, this wasn’t Davis’ best attribute, but he wasn’t bad at it. His athleticism translated to his run defense and he showed range to work sideline to sideline against things like jet sweeps. He also showed quickness to get away with certain risks in the run game.

On this play, Florida runs the ball to the left with the left tackle blocking down on the defensive end while the left guard pulls around him to the edge. As the guard pulls, Davis should be looking to attack his outside shoulder and force the run back inside to the rest of the defense. However, he takes a risk and goes underneath the block, working the guards inside shoulder. It’s a risky path because it could leave a clear lane to the edge for the running back, but Davis hits it quickly enough to disrupt the path of the back and force him to cut back. The back then fumbles the ball and Davis shows good awareness to locate the ball and jump on it to recover the fumble.

Washington’s defensive line affords linebackers some opportunities to take risks like that, Jon Bostic made some nice plays last year doing exactly the same thing. However, if the linebacker is going to take a risk and go under a block like that, they have to make the play. If they don’t, then they’ll often leave a huge hole which can lead to a big gain. Washington had that issue a few times last year too, so there’s some risk and reward assessment that has to be made in a split second decision like that.

I didn’t get to see Davis taking on too many blocks in the games I watched. An issue I felt he had was having his eyes in the wrong place at times, leading to missed reads and being out of position in the run game. But I was encouraged to see him willing to be physical when he needed to be. A lot of coverage linebackers are often converted safeties that would rather not take on blockers that have 80 pounds or more on them, but Davis showed a willingness to do so.

This is a tough play for Davis to make. The offense spreads out the defense and Davis ends up in an overhang position, between the right tackle and the receiver in the slot. In that spot, Davis has to be ready to react to whatever route combination might come from the receivers, but also ready to charge down into the box and help defend the run. The offense notices the light box and decides to run the ball, pulling both left guard and center to the edge as lead blockers. 

As the ball is snapped, Davis sinks back a few steps to ensure he can cover a potential route, but gets his eyes in the backfield and reads the run. He then charges up to the line of scrimmage, attacking the pulling lineman head-on. Davis shows great physicality, powering through the block from the pulling guard by attacking his outside shoulder, before wrapping up the running back and making the tackle. 

Overall, Davis still has some rawness to him and teams will wonder why he was part of a linebacker rotation at Kentucky rather than playing the majority of the snaps. Despite that, his upside is clear to see and he fits the mold of a modern NFL linebacker, with great size and athletic ability to hold up against the run while also being able to play coverage. Davis’ zone coverage ability fits well with what Washington asked of its linebackers last year and the potential is there for him to get even better. His ideal spot would be the vacant Will (weak side) linebacker spot that Kevin Pierre-Louis played last season, which could make him an option for Washington as early as the 19th overall pick.