The rumors were correct! Jamin Davis’s meteoric rise up the draft boards culminated in him being selected as the WFT’s 19^th overall pick. I’ll be honest, I was frustrated at first since both Christian Darrisaw and JOK were available when he was picked. However, after giving it some thought, we needed a linebacker badly so this is a fine pick. Here is a quick summary of our newest linebacker:

PROS: Davis is the prototypical size for a linebacker. He stands 6’3” tall and weighs 232lbs, the exact same size as All-Pro Fred Wagner (6’3” 236) and 2020s leading tackler Zach Cunningham (6’3” 238lbs and was a Skins Skinny 2017 draft gem as well). He’s an explosive, sideline-to-sideline linebacker and proved that at him pro day with a 4.38 40, 42” vertical, and 11” broad jump. He has a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.94 which is 15^th out of 2155 draft eligible players from 1987 to 2021 (see below).

He finished with 102 tackles last year against an SEC schedule along with 3 interceptions and 1.5 sacks. He’s solid in coverage and was one of the only linebackers to give Kyle Pitts a tough time. Further, he has no injuries to note and played almost every down for the Wildcats.

CONS: The biggest concern is his block shedding and run stuffing. As I wrote before, he has multiple instances where he gets blocked clean out of run plays that are headed his direction and tries to arm tackle RBs a little too much for my liking. Also, he’s a one-year wonder. Granted it was a heck of a year but hopefully he can build upon it. His speed doesn’t always show up on film but there are flashes. Hopefully he can be more consistently explosive in the NFL.

Summary: Rivera claimed he was their #1 defensive player on their board so if he’s excited about it, then I’ll be excited about it. Davis’s speed at linebacker will be a welcomed addition to this young defense. I imagine he won’t have to take on blockers too often with this elite defensive front in front of him and having two old Linebackers as his head coach and defensive coordinator, they will get the most out of him. I see Davis playing more of weak side linebacker but if he can cover TE’s and slot receivers like he did at Kentucky, he should be an every-down player for us. I’m excited to see him in action!

GRADE: B