LB, Kentucky
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 234 lbs
Class: Junior
This year’s linebacker class is deep, with some very talented players likely to be available well into Day 2. One name to watch is Kentucky’s Jamin Davis. After playing a bit-part role in his first two seasons, Davis had a breakout junior year in 2020. He is still a little inexperienced, but his combination of size and athletic ability is sure to get teams interested.
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Strengths
At 6’4″ and 234 lbs, Davis offers ideal size and length at the linebacker position. He should have no problem transitioning to the more physical aspects of the NFL as a result. What makes Davis an enticing prospect is that he pairs this prototypical linebacker build with genuine athleticism. He possesses good sideline-to-sideline range, with the short area quickness required at the position in the modern NFL. There aren’t many players who are as fluid as Davis at his size.
One of the most important traits for a linebacker is being around the ball and making tackles. Davis ticks that box and is up there with Micah Parsons as one of the very best tacklers in the 2021 class. He hits hard and has a huge tackle radius, with just 11 missed tackles on 150 career attempts. Davis is comfortable sifting through traffic and has no problem disengaging from blockers in order to get to the ball-carrier. He earned an 87.5 PFF run defense grade and his 28 run stops ranked 15th in the Power Five.
One of the more surprising things when watching Davis was how impressive his instincts are. 2020 was his first season as a starter, but he looked like a player with far more experience. The fact that he already demonstrates the ability to read the game well after just 10 career starts is very encouraging. He isn’t often fooled by misdirection and his first step is easily one of the more impressive aspects of his game.
When it comes to coverage, Davis is surprisingly effective for his size. This is definitely still a developmental part of his game, but he was comfortable playing out in space and even came up with three interceptions this season. His sample size is admittedly limited, but he has allowed a career passer rating when targeted of just 55.8. He has also logged a forced incompletion rate of 12.2 per cent, which is very good for a linebacker.
Weaknesses
The biggest concern with Davis is his inexperience and limited sample size. He has just ten career starts and had played just 245 snaps in college before this season. Whilst he impressed in 2020, we really haven’t see him perform at a high level over a sustained period of time and that will count against him. Whilst the high end was certainly on display against the likes of Tennessee and Florida, he did have his fair share of lacklustre games too.
The other concern will be how well his performance in coverage will translate to the NFL. Kentucky’s defense requires their linebackers to play a tonne of spot drops and that is by far the easiest coverage assignment a linebacker will receive. He has played just 26 man coverage snaps in his career and it is difficult to project how well he will function with more diverse coverage responsibilities in the NFL.
Bottom Line
Davis possesses a rare combination of size and athleticism that teams will covet at linebacker. He is an elite tackler and an accomplished run-stuffer, who showed real flashes of potential throughout the 2020 season. His limited sample size and simplistic coverage responsibilities are a slight concern, but he has the tools to succeed at the next level.
Big Board Rank: #49
Positional Rank: #6
