Who is Fred Davis? - 2nd Rd. #48
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:52 pm
Fred Davis
TE | (6'3", 255, 4.7) | USC
Born: January 15, 1986
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Strengths: An athletic tight end with good quickness and adequate speed for the position. Does a good job of avoiding the jam at the line and shows good release quickness. He has long arms and big hands. He has excellent ball skills and can go up and snatch the ball at its highest point. Very reliable short-to-intermediate receiver. Doesn't let the ball get into his pads often and shows very good hand-eye coordination for his position. He can pluck on the run and gets upfield quickly. Displays a knack for finding open windows on short-to-intermediate routes. Is fast enough to occasionally stretch the seam vertically. Will consistently separate from SLB's one-on-one. He has a quick first step as a run blocker and generally takes good angles. Shows good body control in space as a blocker and does an outstanding job of hitting the moving target on the second-level. Uses leverage to his advantage, displays adequate upper-body strength and works hard to sustain his blocks once locked on. He has been durable and reliable throughout his career. Continues to improve with more experience and is a hard worker with solid overall intangibles.
Weaknesses: Height and bulk are decent but not good. He's tough and technically sound as a blocker, but he will get overwhelmed physically versus bigger DE's and SLB's at the point of attack. While he has above average speed for the position, he has not been a consistent weapon vertically.
Overall: Davis appeared in 35 games (13 starts) in his first three seasons at USC (2004-'06), grabbing 55 receptions for 527 yards (9.6 average) and five touchdowns. Last season he started all 13 games and more than doubled his previous career totals, turning in 62 receptions for 881 yards (14.2 average) and eight touchdowns. Davis finished his career with school records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, and as a senior received the Mackey Award, given to the nation's top player at the position. Keller missed one game in 2005 because of an ankle injury.: Davis made significant strides as a first-year starter in 2006 before breaking out as a senior in 2007. He lacks elite size and he is not going to be a typical inline tight end in the NFL. However, Davis possesses the athleticism and toughness to quickly emerge as an impact pass-catcher and eventually to develop into a fulltime starter. Davis is one of the only tight ends in this class that creates mismatches. If used properly and moved around in the formation, Davis should be able to use his explosiveness, physicality and quickness to give linebackers and safeties a very difficult time.
Video
A little more info
Davis came to USC as a 5 star rated WR, that had to sneak out of Ohio to avoid the local pressure of playing for the Buckeyes. With a loaded receiving corps, Davis moved to TE during his freshmen year, and the move is paying off. As a sophomore, he caught 13 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns backing up Dominique Byrd. The starting job was his as a junior, he came through with 38 catches for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Davis had a huge senior season, winning the Mackey Award as the nations top TE. He hauled in 55 catches for 794 yards and seven touchdowns on the year.
Fred Davis is one of the best all around tight ends in this draft. Coming in as a receiver, you know he has the talent to be a playmaker catching the football. He has the athleticism, speed, and quickness to get open, make defenders miss, and get down the field vertically. What most didn’t expect was his blocking ability. As a sophomore, he was frequently used on the field with Byrd because of his ability to block.
It is tough to find a knock in Davis as far as tight ends go. He is a complete tight end, but he hasn’t proven to be dominant in any facet. He has the speed to be a playmaker on the field, but he may not run a blazing 40 to be a premium draft pick. As a blocker, he doesn’t drive people off the ball and lay them on their backs.
Davis had a tremendous senior season. He emerged as the go to target for John David Booty as the season progressed. He is a playmaker as a receiver and good enough as a blocker to have an impact on every down. He should hear his name called in the first two rounds of the draft in April.
TE | (6'3", 255, 4.7) | USC
Born: January 15, 1986
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Strengths: An athletic tight end with good quickness and adequate speed for the position. Does a good job of avoiding the jam at the line and shows good release quickness. He has long arms and big hands. He has excellent ball skills and can go up and snatch the ball at its highest point. Very reliable short-to-intermediate receiver. Doesn't let the ball get into his pads often and shows very good hand-eye coordination for his position. He can pluck on the run and gets upfield quickly. Displays a knack for finding open windows on short-to-intermediate routes. Is fast enough to occasionally stretch the seam vertically. Will consistently separate from SLB's one-on-one. He has a quick first step as a run blocker and generally takes good angles. Shows good body control in space as a blocker and does an outstanding job of hitting the moving target on the second-level. Uses leverage to his advantage, displays adequate upper-body strength and works hard to sustain his blocks once locked on. He has been durable and reliable throughout his career. Continues to improve with more experience and is a hard worker with solid overall intangibles.
Weaknesses: Height and bulk are decent but not good. He's tough and technically sound as a blocker, but he will get overwhelmed physically versus bigger DE's and SLB's at the point of attack. While he has above average speed for the position, he has not been a consistent weapon vertically.
Overall: Davis appeared in 35 games (13 starts) in his first three seasons at USC (2004-'06), grabbing 55 receptions for 527 yards (9.6 average) and five touchdowns. Last season he started all 13 games and more than doubled his previous career totals, turning in 62 receptions for 881 yards (14.2 average) and eight touchdowns. Davis finished his career with school records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, and as a senior received the Mackey Award, given to the nation's top player at the position. Keller missed one game in 2005 because of an ankle injury.: Davis made significant strides as a first-year starter in 2006 before breaking out as a senior in 2007. He lacks elite size and he is not going to be a typical inline tight end in the NFL. However, Davis possesses the athleticism and toughness to quickly emerge as an impact pass-catcher and eventually to develop into a fulltime starter. Davis is one of the only tight ends in this class that creates mismatches. If used properly and moved around in the formation, Davis should be able to use his explosiveness, physicality and quickness to give linebackers and safeties a very difficult time.
Video
A little more info
Davis came to USC as a 5 star rated WR, that had to sneak out of Ohio to avoid the local pressure of playing for the Buckeyes. With a loaded receiving corps, Davis moved to TE during his freshmen year, and the move is paying off. As a sophomore, he caught 13 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns backing up Dominique Byrd. The starting job was his as a junior, he came through with 38 catches for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Davis had a huge senior season, winning the Mackey Award as the nations top TE. He hauled in 55 catches for 794 yards and seven touchdowns on the year.
Fred Davis is one of the best all around tight ends in this draft. Coming in as a receiver, you know he has the talent to be a playmaker catching the football. He has the athleticism, speed, and quickness to get open, make defenders miss, and get down the field vertically. What most didn’t expect was his blocking ability. As a sophomore, he was frequently used on the field with Byrd because of his ability to block.
It is tough to find a knock in Davis as far as tight ends go. He is a complete tight end, but he hasn’t proven to be dominant in any facet. He has the speed to be a playmaker on the field, but he may not run a blazing 40 to be a premium draft pick. As a blocker, he doesn’t drive people off the ball and lay them on their backs.
Davis had a tremendous senior season. He emerged as the go to target for John David Booty as the season progressed. He is a playmaker as a receiver and good enough as a blocker to have an impact on every down. He should hear his name called in the first two rounds of the draft in April.
ey.