Film Study: How Jarrad Davis is finding success in his new role

Detroit Lions linebacker Jarrad Davis was demoted from his starting job three weeks ago, but he has settled into a new role and is thriving.

Three weeks ago, Detroit Lions linebacker Jarrad Davis was demoted from his starting job, and while it took a week to adjust to his new role, he has settled in over the last two weeks and has been playing some terrific football.

Davis was a four-year starter as an off-the-ball MIKE linebacker but he has always struggled with the staples in coach Matt Patricia’s scheme. Over the last two seasons, he was often guilty of misreading gaps, overpursuing plays, and his missteps would often put him out of position.

There is no doubting Davis’ athleticism, and his leadership has earned him love from the coaching staff — he is a team captain once again in 2020 — but after the first two weeks of the season, it was clear there were other linebackers on the roster who were performing better and he was benched.

Davis has been relegated to a fifth linebacker role and has only been on the field a handful of snaps — 15 in Week 3, 19 in Week 4, and 11 in Week 6 — but he is making those snaps count.

Over the last two weeks, Davis has been Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded Lions player, earning a 94.5 grade in Week 4 and a 95.2 grade in Week 6 — both in the elite range. Currently, Davis’ season grade of 81.1 is the 7th best among NFL linebackers with at least 85 snaps (He has 126 on the season).

So what has changed?

I took a look at all 11 plays from Davis game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will break them down in this film study.

Setting the table

Davis didn’t enter the game on defense until the eight Jaguars drive and when the Lions were up 24-3 with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter. He played on five snaps on the eighth drive, one snap on the ninth drive, zero snaps on the tenth drive, and five more on the final drive of the game.

Snap 1

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position LB Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
8 1st and 10 WILL Tavai – MIKE Cover 3 Man coverage versus Tight End

Play result: Davis covers the tight end well, Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew takes a shot downfield for an incomplete pass.

Snap 2

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
8 2nd and 10 MIKE Tavai – WILL Cover 3 5-yard drop Zone coverage

Play result: Davis drops 5-yards deep in the middle of the field and Minshew finds the running back in the right flat. Tracy Walker gets outside contain on the back and Davis shows his range, pursues hard, properly breaks down, and squares himself for the tackle. The Jaguars gain just 3-yards.

Snap 3

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
8 1st and 10 WILL Tavai – MIKE Cover 2 man Man coverage versus Fullback

Play result: Davis shadows the fullback during his route and when Minshew hits the running back underneath, Davis breaks off his coverage, squares the back, and sticks the tackle, forcing a fumble that lands out of bounds. Jaguars gain just 2-yards.

Snap 4

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
8 2nd and 8 MIKE Jones – JACK Cover 1 Man A-Gaps

Play result: Davis takes on the block from the center and holds his ground but he is not involved in the play as it goes to his left. Jaguars gain 0-yards.

Snap 5

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
8 1st and 10 WILL Tavai – MIKE Cover 3 Backside A/B Gap

Play result: Davis takes on the left guard, shows his burst with a quick lateral shift to his left, all the way over to the frontside A-gap, and makes the tackle on the running back. Davis’ stop is wiped out after Romeo Okwara was ruled offsides and the Jaguars accepted the penalty.

Snap 6

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
9 3rd and 10 JACK Collins – MIKE Cover 2 Zone Pass Rush

Play result: Collins bluffs the left guard leaving him blocking air and everyone else in one-on-one matchups. Davis is locked up on the right tackle, uses a bull rush to walk him back into Minshew, who has to escape a collapsing pocket. When Michshew scrambles, Davis disengages the tackle with a stiff arm, dives for the sack attempt, but just misses. He was awarded a QB hurry.

Snap 7

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
11 2nd and 2 JACK Collins – MIKE Ragland – WILL 2-3-6 Shell Pass Rush

Up 34-16 with just 4:32 remaining, the Lions are in a 2-3-6 shell the rest of the way, with Davis asked to only rush the passer.

Play result: Davis is stalled by left tackle and Minshew throws an incomplete pass.

Snap 8

Drive Down and Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
11 3rd and 2 JACK Collins – MIKE Ragland – WILL 2-3-6 Shell Pass Rush

Play result: Davis begins his rush upfield, stab-steps and drops inside the left tackle’s inside shoulder. Davis gets past him but the tackle gives him a shove in the back and it throws Davis off just enough to push him off his pursuit line. Minshew escapes the pocket and scrambles for the first down, but once again, Davis should get credit for a QB hurry.

Snap 9

Drive Down/Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
11 1st and 10 WILL Collins – Mike Ragland – JACK 2-3-6 Shell Delayed  pass rush

Play result: Davis drops back off-the-ball to the WILL, delays his pass rush, and is easily picked up by the right tackle.

Snap 10

Drive Down/Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
11 2nd and 10 JACK Collins – MIKE Ragland – WILL 2-3-6 Shell Pass Rush

Play result: Davis rushes the right tackle but instead of making a pass rush move, he disengages and plays contain. Minshew throws an incomplete pass, but Davis didn’t have an impact on the play.

Snap 11

Drive Down/Distance Davis Position Support Coverage Scheme Assignment
11 4th and 10 JACK Collins – MIKE Ragland – WILL 2-3-6 Shell Pass Rush

Play result: On the Jaguars’ final offensive play of the game, Davis lines up outside the right tackle and stunts inside through the frontside A-gap. Davis once again will get credit for a QB hurry but he misses his clean shot for a sack and Minshew escapes the pocket. The play is not over for Davis though, as he illustrates his relentlessness by getting up after his miss, pursuing Minshew with aggression, and forcing him to throw an incomplete pass.

Summary

Davis’ 11 snaps were split between the WILL (4), MIKE (2), and JACK (5) and he found success at each spot. Both of Davis’ tackles came from an off-the-ball position, one at the WILL and one at the MIKE, while he also managed to get credit for three QB hurries on five rushes from the JACK and one from the WILL.

Of course, some of his production can be attributed to the situations in which he is taking the field, but production is production. The Lions had 21 pressures on the day, Okwara had the most with four but he rushed the passer 35 times. Davis was second on the team and got his three on just six pass-rush opportunities.

Davis has shown more patience in coverage, has done a nice job squaring up for tackles, and discovered a couple of pass rushing moves for his toolbelt. He is still earning back his playing time, and while the Lions waited until they were up three scores before deploying him on the field, he is proving he deserves more playing time.