2024 Dynasty Rookie Post-Draft Update: Ray Davis

The NFL Draft is behind us, rookie drafts are taking place, and as dynasty managers, we are looking ahead to the upcoming season. In our Dynasty Rookie Post-Draft Update series, we break down all the incoming fantasy-relevant rookies, looking at their profiles and where they fit. The basis of the rookie profile involves the usage of STORM analysis, focusing on five key components: Situation, Talent, Opportunity, Risk, and Market.

Situation

Name: Ray Davis

Position: Running Back

Pro Team: Buffalo Bills

College Team: Kentucky (Transferred from Vanderbilt and Temple)

Draft Status: Round four, pick 28 (128th overall)

Ray Davis has gone through the gauntlet in his young life, but it all paid off when the Bills called his name and made his NFL dreams come true this past April. Re’Mahn Davis, Ray for short, is one of 14 siblings. Born in San Francisco, he became a ward of the state at the age of eight while both of his parents were in prison. He spent his childhood essentially homeless, jumping from one living situation to the next. Sports were a much-needed escape for Davis, especially football and basketball.

He enrolled at Trinity-Pawling School, a boarding school in upstate New York known for a top-flight athletics program, for his sophomore season. He spent two seasons as a complimentary running back before earning the starting quarterback job in his senior year. He also ran track his junior year and lettered in basketball and baseball. He graduated Trinity-Pawling one credit shy of NCAA eligibility, so he enrolled for a postgraduate year at Blair Academy in New Jersey, where he played quarterback and cornerback and was named the 2018 conference player of the year.

He was a three-star recruit as a running back and chose to attend Temple over Kent State and Navy. He led Temple in rushing in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to the SEC to play at Vanderbilt. After two seasons in Nashville, he entered the transfer portal again and moved to Kentucky with quarterback Devin Leary (they were considered a package deal). He was Second-Team All-SEC in his one season with the Wildcats and led the team in rushing and receiving touchdowns.

Thanks to an extra year of high school football and five years of college football, he is already over 24.5 years old before taking a single snap in the pros; he’ll turn 25 in November. For reference, he’s a few weeks younger than his teammate James Cook and a few months older than Javonte Williams. Jawhar Jordan was the only running back drafted who is older than Davis. The running back position is a young man’s game, so that’s something to keep in mind when considering him for dynasty fantasy football.