Miami Dolphins rookie defensive tackle Raekwon Davis has generated quite a bit of buzz over the course of the past few weeks. Davis, who was slow to command a role in Miami’s defense earlier in the season, has suddenly found himself in a center role up front for the Dolphins. With Miami running many “bear” fronts to occupy interior gaps, Davis is often placed in a one on one situation with opposing centers — and the results have been tremendous for the rookie 2nd-round pick from Alabama.
Davis has been logged by Pro Football Focus as having the third most run-stuffs of any rookie defender in football and the most of any rookie defensive lineman in the AFC with 14. With Davis only really seeing his snap count jump after the Dolphins’ Week 7 bye (he played 50 snaps that first week back against the Rams), it would seem as though the sky is the limit for Davis’ run defending prowess.
Most run-stops among NFL rookies
1. Derrick Brown, Panthers – 18
2. Patrick Queen, Ravens – 17
3. Raekwon Davis, Dolphins – 14 pic.twitter.com/S7vd4xKEI2— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 4, 2020
When you consider that Derrick Brown has taken 545 snaps this season, Patrick Queen has taken 607 snaps this season and Davis has taken just 323 defensive snaps this season, Davis’ production become all that much more impressive and eye-opening on how well the young rookie is playing against the run.
Miami is likely to continue to dedicate resources to improving the depth of their defensive line in the coming offseason. The contract status of Davon Godchaux is in question and Miami has been resorting to promoting UDFA Benito Jones to the active roster from the practice squad to give the team enough bodies to mix and match up front. But it is safe to assume that Davis is going to get his fair shot to assume the full-time, long-term nose tackle duties for the Dolphins defense over the next several seasons. And if Davis is able to flip a little extra pass rush into the mix as he develops as a player, he may well end up being quite the steal as the No. 56 overall pick in the 2020 draft.