Sunday, 20 December 2009
Anthony Davis set to declare
The big news following Rutgers 45-24 victory over UCF yesterday was the announcement by Anthony Davis that he'll hold a news conference on Tuesday. Reports suggest the 6'6", 325lbs left tackle will reveal his intentions to enter the 2010 draft. This follows quickly after another underclassmen, Bruce Campbell (OT, Maryland) also said he'll be heading for the NFL. In a down year for senior lineman, it's a boost to the position overall. Both Davis and Campbell could be the first two off the board at their position. Elsewhere, senior Jason Fox (OT, Miami) will miss the Champs Sports Bowl against Wisconsin to have surgery.
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6 comments:
Watched every snap from Davis last night. And funny as it may sound, he looked the complete opposite to my prior viewings and the more recent draftnik analysis.
Davis generally played man up against the CUSA player of the year. And where did Davis shine: Pass Pro! His ability to stone the DE and pick up stunts was impressive. He looked to struggle more with inside moves, but generally get his feet reset and managed to complete the block.
Davis was dominant in pass pro. Davis also showed his nimble feet when pulling.
As for negatives, during run plays, he struggles to find who to block at the second level, and does seem to stop when he assumes the play has gone beyond his range to impact the play.
When he is on, he is the best in the country. When he misses, it looks like Curry 'esque. Not sure what to make of it.
A solid top 25 prospect, and one that can play ZBS.
ZBS does not require cut blocking. Zone blocking is basically like zone defense; pick a spot and protect it. Cut blocking is an aspect of Man and Zone.
Thus, Davis is more than athletic enough to perform LT duties:
- Big and strong to manage bull rush
- Athletic enough to pull
- Nimble enough to cut block
- Smart enough to pick up stunts
- Lots of room for growth
Davis would look real good in Seattle Blue.
Michael, thankyou for the detailed analysis. I had no access to the Rutgers v UCF game and was left with Fresno State v Wyoming.
What you've written here is generally the impression I've had with Davis previously. Very good in pass protection, very stout, good in one-on-one combat but struggles at the second level. He reminds me a lot of Eugene Monroe in that sense.
Whether he'd work well in the ZBS for me depends on his ability to block off and diagnose. Russell Okung has struggled in that area at times when I've seen him. Davis won't necessarily struggle, Ryan Clady hasn't. But he looks like a better man scheme fit right now. It's something we can get into a bit more now we know he'll declare.
Right now I'd put Davis down as being the top OT prospect based on potential. There are mitigating circumstances that could change that (attitude/weight problems in the past).
Thanks for the quick response,Rob.
Davis' attitude certainly will be analyzed. If it is analyzed by Mora as Oher was "analyzed", then Davis is off the board.
My hope is that Seattle realizes that great talent does not come in pretty packages all the time.
Football, European or American, is not played by Boy Scouts. Greatness has a tendency to skew ones mental approach to life.
So long as a competitor has the innate drive for greatness, then the other stuff can be worked on.
Here's hoping we at least look at Davis. While I love Charlie Brown, he is what got us to 2009; a smaller, athletic, overachiever.
I am tiring of rooting for the underdog. Give me Phil Loadholt type guy, Trent Williams, Iupati and lets go smash some people.
ZBS allows smaller players to excel. I would argue the Packers, who run ZBS schemes, is not a small team.
Please, big and athletic with some risk. Please Seattle, take a risk. No more safe backups in the 1st round.
I was severly disappointed with Davis. On pass pro he would immediately start backing up and engage right before the QB then stop his feet. On obvious passing downs they gave him help on the left side with #10, a TE I believe.
He looked absolutely lost when going to the second level. He wouldn't touch anyone on the first level and guys would run right by him. It's like he zeros in on one thing and does only that one thing.
The only good block I saw was when he pulled to the right which was where they seemed to prefer to run. I would wonder why that is.
The worst I saw was on a pass play, he started backing up and when he engaged, the DE pushed him a little, Davis' feet stopped, the DE disengaged and went around him to the QB. Luckily Savage is a pretty good QB with an amazing freshman receiver in Sanu (sp?) and got rid of the ball quickly.
From what I saw, Davis has potential but the he seems to have tunnel vision. I lost all interest in this guy after watching that game.
Thanks for the insight, Ivotuk - much appreciated.
Davis plays in a ZBS in college.
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