Ashtyn Davis Overview
Position: Safety
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 202 lbs
Arms: 30 ½”
Hands: 9 ⅜”
School: California
NFL Combine Performance Data
40 Yard Dash: N/A
Three Cone Drill: N/A
Bench Press: 14 reps
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
Ashtyn Davis 2020 NFL Draft Profile
Davis is a unique case as he was primarily a track athlete at California’s Santa Cruz High School rather than a football player. In fact, Davis committed to California as a track athlete and did not play football at all in 2014 before he walked on to the team in 2015. Davis did not see playing time until 2016 where he appeared in 12 games, predominantly as a special teamer and corner. Davis began seeing more time on the defensive side of the ball as a 2017 sophomore where he took increased snaps at safety along with a special teams role. The following season, Davis broke out, starting all 13 games for the Golden Bears and earning First-Team All-Pac-12 honors. Davis’ 2019 senior season was again highly productive as he earned Second-Team All-Pac-12 honors along with the Joe Roth courage, attitude, and sportsmanship award.
Strengths
- Impressive back end coverage skills with great range as an over the top center fielder;
- Smart player with a strong understanding of routes, coverage, and overall scheme;
- Packs a hard punch when he squares up and fully connects with ball carriers;
- Smarts shows up on the field as he has quick processing and diagnosing skills;
- Has NFL caliber play speed and quickness which helps him cover impressive ground along with demonstrates good breaks on the ball;
- Versatile coverage player with fluid hips and strong fundamentals.
Weaknesses
- Tackling fundamentals and angles need improvement when playing close to the line of scrimmage;
- Does not play with the physicality of a box safety;
- Awareness could use improvement but this should improve with more repetitions;
- Good, not great, athleticism and could struggle against faster NFL receivers;
- With his size, teams would like to see him develop more physicality in his game.
NFL Comparison: Devin McCourty
Teams With Need at Position: San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams
Projection: Early second to early third round
Bottom Line on Ashtyn Davis
Given the depth of this year’s draft, Davis will slide out of the first round. However, his skill set screams first-round talent as he is an elite coverage player. Davis possesses NFL caliber speed and athleticism along with an advanced understanding of routes which translates to his on field play as an over the top safety. Furthermore, Davis provides impressive range while in deep zones as well as is quick to diagnose and react to his assignments. Additionally, Davis has tremendous versatility as a coverage player and has demonstrated quality repetitions in man coverage when aligned in the slot along with being a strong center fielder in deep zones. While Davis packs a punch when he squares up ball carriers, his tackling fundamentals, as well as his pursuit angles, need improvement in order for him to help in run support. Davis should be seen as an exciting versatile coverage player who can have day one impact for a team in need of a smart, rangy, and fluid hipped safety.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
