Dynasty Scouts Player Spotlight: Mike Davis
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Mike Davis, RB South Carolina
Strengths: Pedigree, size, speed/quickness for his build, agility, power, hands, instincts
Weaknesses: Good but not great athlete, injuries, consistency with vision and patience, pass protection
Background
[inlinead]Heading into the 2013 season, South Carolina’s backfield was a question mark. They saw their star running back of the previous three seasons, Marcus Lattimore, leave campus to go to the NFL. While he was injured for the final four games of the 2012 season, no South Carolina running back seized the job. This left a talented group of players the opportunity to battle it out during spring practices to decide the starter. Mike Davis emerged victorious out of spring practices and carried that over into fall camp.
He burst onto the college football scene last year with 100 yard rushing performances in six of seven games to start the season. During that stretch, he ran the ball 132 times for 879 yards averaging 6.6 yards per carry and ten touchdowns. Some were talking about a potential Heisman trophy in his future. However, the injuries started to pile up and Davis was a fraction of his former self down the stretch. He tried to tough it out with 71 carries for 304 yards averaging just 4.2 yards per carry and one touchdown. He missed the game versus Coastal Carolina in an attempt to heal up for the final two games, but he was still hindered during his game versus Clemson averaging 1.5 yards per carry.
Strengths
The pedigree is clearly evident with Davis entering South Carolina as a highly touted four star recruit out of high school. His brother, James Davis, was a star running back in his own right at Clemson and then played briefly in the NFL. However, James wasn’t as explosive or powerful and therefore got drafted in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. Mike has great size at 5’9 223 pounds and added eight pounds since last season. His short, yet thick build creates a leverage advantage against almost every defender, which is great for breaking tackles.
With his very thick build, it’s surprising to see speed and quickness as a part of Davis’ arsenal. Don’t get confused though, he isn’t going to be CJ Spiller or Chris Johnson in the open field. However, he is in the high 4.4 to low 4.5 range in the 40 yard dash, which is plenty fast for a player with his size. His acceleration is very good, which allows him to hit top gear quickly. Here are three examples that showcase his speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzSS0UWEsDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUpNReZ7qyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVR4b8Yv0Rk
As you can see, his speed is sneaky and defenders underestimate him by taking poor angles, which allows for big play opportunities.
I’m a big fan of Davis’ repertoire in the agility department. He doesn’t waste movement to gain extra yardage and keeps his shoulders square. Many running backs stop their feet or have to jump cut by defenders, this allows for defenses to catch up in pursuit. However, Davis’ momentum is always carrying him forward for increased yardage. He uses pressure cuts, spins, dead leg, subtle cuts, and even small hesitations in the open field.
http://youtu.be/f4OpVfAUUQY?t=37s
He looks like a Swiss army knife on this run by reading his blocks well on the perimeter, cuts inside of defensive pursuit, incorporates a spin move and then lowers his shoulder.
http://youtu.be/VjYmNuQ7Emg?t=14s
“Dead leg” is a move running backs use to set up defenders. They lull the defender to sleep and then quickly explode the other way by the defender. Davis does a great job of it here to score a touchdown.
Contact isn’t something Davis avoids, actually many times he initiates contact to gain yardage. His frame allows him an advantage in leverage that most defenders can’t match by themselves. Therefore, Davis can power through arm tackles and lower his shoulder for extra yardage or to break free into the open field.
http://youtu.be/f4OpVfAUUQY?t=2m14s
On a fourth and one, he lowers his shoulder to get the job done and more.
http://youtu.be/f4OpVfAUUQY?t=23s
The ability to power through defenders near the goal line is one of my very important traits in a running back.
http://youtu.be/VjYmNuQ7Emg?t=58s
Soon after the hand off, he needs to power through an unblocked defensive lineman. Next, he uses his legs to churn through an arm tackle and finishes the run by lowering his shoulder. He gets blown up here but he had a defender on his legs at contact, which affected his leverage.
http://youtu.be/VjYmNuQ7Emg?t=3m14s
Quickly after catching a screen pass, Davis has a defender near him and uses his power to get free. Then he incorporates a stiff arm to get by the next defender and I really like what he does to finish this run. Instead of lowering his shoulder near the sideline, he jumps inside of the defender for the chance to make this an even bigger gain. He’s unsuccessful and gains only an extra yard, but those are great instincts for a running back.
South Carolina didn’t shy away from Davis in the passing game last season. He displayed soft hands, which resulted in 34 receptions in 2013.
Many times when watching Davis, he just gets “it.” He runs in such a way that he’s dissecting defenses and picks up yardage because he has great feel for the position. I define that as running back instincts and you can read about Davis’ instincts specifically in another piece I wrote (insert that here).
Weaknesses
He’s not a great athlete, which is what a lot of fantasy football owners continue to seek out. But he is a good enough athlete to be a good starting running back at the next level. He’s just not going to light up the combine and therefore, is going to get overlooked.
Last season the injuries started with an ankle, then ribs, a shoulder, and finally a high ankle sprain. Already in camp this season he dealt with hamstring and rib injuries. With a laundry list of injuries, health is a major concern for Davis. He needs to show the NFL brass that’s he’s able to withstand the pounding of a full season. If not, they may see him as only a committee player that can’t be counted on. He has a physical style and may need to alter that to stay on the field.
I would like to see more consistency with vision and patience. At times, he is pressing to make plays and cuts up field. This is apparent not only when taking handoffs, but also in the screen game as well. Taking his time will generate more yards and hopefully he can get coached up in this area. That’s not to say Davis has poor vision, but he needs to improve in this area. I would classify Davis as having good vision and you can see that evident in this play.
http://youtu.be/VjYmNuQ7Emg?t=2m18s
Reading the pressure from defenders collapsing the edge, Davis jumps inside of them and explodes up the field for a big gain.
Pass protection is important when evaluating a running back to see if he’s capable of handling all three downs at the NFL level. While Davis is not a great pass protector, he is willing to throw his body around to get in front of defenders. I think he can improve his technique and put in more effort. At times, he’s shown to give up on pass protecting after a few seconds and watches the play.
Devy angle
When I’m looking to add a running back to my dynasty team, he has to fit certain criteria to be someone I’ll heavily pursue. I don’t want a committee guy, I want a complete back. Someone who can run between the tackles with power, makes defenders miss using a wide array of abilities, soft hands to catch the football, excels at the goal line, and has good instincts. Mike Davis is that type of player and is one I will be adding to plenty of my dynasty teams if I get the chance. He will fly under the radar because he’s not an unbelievable athlete, which makes him a good value pick.
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Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
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