Jordan Davis' build as a defensive lineman might not have ever been seen before. His 6-foot-6, 341-pound frame, combined with insane athleticism displayed with a 4.78-second 40-yard dash and 100-inch broad jump, make for a wildly dynamic presence on a defensive line.
That raw build and athleticism could make him a major fit for two primary needs the Steelers have heading into the NFL Draft's first round tonight: Finding a player who can help ensure the Steelers don't have the NFL's worst rushing defense for a second-consecutive year, and finding a star defensive lineman who could someday take the mantle from Cam Heyward as the next of the great Steelers on that front.
Davis' athletic profile made him one of the highest graded defensive line prospects in his raw abilities. Compared to his teammate and fellow defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, Davis is four inches taller, almost 40 pounds heavier, and his 40-yard dash was only a hundredth of a second behind Wyatt's at 4.77, and his broad jump was significantly longer at 123 inches to Wyatt's 111 inches. Those 123-inches by Davis are the longest recorded broad jump at the NFL Scouting Combine since 2000. That shows just how explosive he's been in college football, where he was a dominant force for the national champions in 2021.
RAS.FOOTBALL
Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt compared in their relative athletic scores.
The only defensive tackle in the NFL Scouting Combine to register an official 40-yard dash time faster than either Wyatt or Davis is Aaron Donald, who also matched with Davis' 32-inch vertical leap, but not his broad jump. When it comes to analytics and finding unique aspects to a player, Davis is off the charts from an athletic standpoint.
And when you look at his tape, his dominance at the point of attack is obvious. Davis knows how to use his size and his explosiveness to beat and control offensive linemen with his frame, as well as how to finish plays and chase down quarterbacks and running backs in the backfield. Watch how he quickly popped up from his stance against Alabama guard Javion Cohen by using his long 34-inch arms to control Cohen's frame, and then shed him off to attack inside and make the tackle for loss:
The Steelers need players like that who can win one-on-one against the run in the hole, and erase big runs before they start.
Their defense also needs defensive linemen who can eat double teams from opposing offensive lines to keep linebackers like Devin Bush and Myles Jack free so they can be the ones to make plays against the run. Davis has also proven adept at taking on double teams with his raw power, and still being able to make plays against the run. Watch Cohen get aid from Evan Neal, one of the highest graded players in this class, in an effort to double team Davis.
Davis responded by anchoring himself down, controlling Cohen with his hands and fighting through even a slight hold to close down on the running lane Brian Robinson Jr. and assist in making the tackle on the stretch run:
In addition to making the play, Davis' effort helped keep linebacker Quay Walker clean to come in and help clean up if Robinson still found a way between Davis and Wyatt.
The biggest questions and drawbacks about Davis as a prospect are tied to suspicions about his stamina, limited usage at Georgia and his apparent lack of definitive pass rush moves. Davis only played 378 snaps last season and was often taken off the field on third-and-long situations, and only recorded seven sacks over four seasons. The presumption of the meaning for the limited snap count from NFL Draft evaluators has been that Davis has a conditioning problem that makes him ineffective late in games if he plays a large number of snaps.
That's not a proven fact, as Georgia coaches attest that the Bulldogs' defensive depth and large array of talent, as 8 of the 14 Georgia players who were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine this year were defensive players. Between Davis, Wyatt, Travon Walker, Lewis Cine, Nakobe Dean, and an outside chance of Quay Walker, the NFL Draft could have as many as six Georgia defensive players go in the first round. There's merit to the idea that Davis just wasn't used as much because he wasn't needed, but there's also plenty of tape that suggests fatigue or at least a lack of a plan in his pass rush.
But it's not even just about pass rush reps, as Davis also has run plays when you can see his lack of refined technique at beating opponents who get the jump on him. Davis is very good at winning the onset of a play and dominating afterwards, but if an opponent gets their hands inside of his frame, he hasn't shown the hand technique ability to disengage and run free. Watch this run play when he lost the initial hand battle at the line against Florida and was unable to hold down his gap on the run play:
This is where I see Davis' biggest challenges coming in his early years of the NFL.
He's won so many reps with his pure athletic prowess that he hasn't had to refine a rich repertoire of pass rush moves or finesse techniques. He excels with power techniques on stunts and twists when he can crash into a hole and wreck opponents. But that doesn't mean he can't learn those techniques and grow into a role that lets him be a more versatile lineman in the NFL. Despite his size to be an apparent nose tackle, Davis actually played a significant number of reps more in B-gap with 265 snaps than he did in A-gap with 111 snaps in 2021.
But another reason why Davis' sack totals were so low also came down to circumstance. When you watch Davis' tape, he was often the spying defensive tackle up the middle who kept an eye on the mobile quarterbacks who liked to burst up the middle of the pass rush while the edge rushers collapsed the pocket. Teams also worked into their game plans quicker passing concepts often in an attempt to neutralize Georgia's defensive front.
That didn't stop Davis from still getting pressures in his career. Watch how he used a quick first step from B-gap to A-gap right up the middle while slapping down Cohen's attempted punch to slow him down. You can see that athleticism work in a short space and force Bryce Young to throw his pass quickly or get swallowed by Davis in his rush:
And at 21-years old, Davis would have plenty of time to hone these skills while keeping his unique build and athleticism as he aged into his mid-twenties at the end of his rookie contract.
Mike Tomlin has been open about liking Davis and acknowledged that he could see teams selecting him multiple picks before the Steelers' 20th overall pick. So the question for Kevin Colbert will be whether Davis would be worth moving up in the first round to get. As I stated in my Carter's Classroom about Malik Willis, the Steelers would be open to trading up in this NFL Draft, provided they not overpay in future picks. Davis could also be a candidate worthy of a trade-up in the Steelers' eyes, especially if they value him as one of the prized picks in the class and he's available outside the top ten.
I see the Steelers' value in Davis being high enough that if he were to fall to as low as the 12th overall pick held by the Vikings, the front office could be on the phone to see about claiming Davis before the Ravens, who also need help on their defensive line, get a player with their 14th overall pick who the Steelers truly value. The Steelers could easily sit back and wait until 20, as there are several prospects I see worthy of that pick who could naturally be there, but this NFL Draft class could yield the potential for a true X-factor game-changer.
If Davis is valued by the Steelers the way I think, and other teams see his limited snap count and suspected conditioning issues as pushing him outside of the top 10, that's a scenario I could see playing out.
