Tag: Ashtyn Davis

Who and what to watch at the 2020 NFL Combine: Safeties

The Lions Wire staff has identified which safeties Detroit Lions fans should be watching at the 2020 NFL Combine.

The 2020 NFL Combine on-field workouts begin Thursday, February 27th in Indianapolis but the safeties won’t take the field until the final day of on-field drills — Sunday, March 1st.

This is the final article in this year’s Lions Wire NFL Combine series, where the writing staff has identified players they will be tracking in order to determine potential fits within the organization.

If you missed the previous articles in this series, be sure to check out our quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, interior defensive linemen, EDGE rushers, linebackers, and cornerbacks previews.

Safety traits to evaluate

There are several on-field drills that emphasize a player’s abilities and the main areas Lions’ scouts will likely be focusing for the secondary are:

  • Balance through the hips, watch when they’re asked to flip sides
  • Backpedal, quick feet
  • Fluid speed/acceleration when they change direction
  • Tracking with their eyes
  • Natural hands catching

Grant Delpit, LSU

Suggested by: Max Gerber and Scott Warheit

Once considered a lock for the top-10, parts of Delpit’s skill set were exposed in 2019, including a surprising lack of consistency as a tackler. If teams attribute this decline to injury — he was and currently is dealing with a banged-up ankle — then he could be higher on NFL boards then most perceive right now.

While the tackling issues will likely be a problem for teams — especially the Lions — he has a ton of other skills, that collectively are difficult to find in one package. Delpit is highly intelligent, possesses sideline-to-sideline range, is explosive to the ball, can drop in the box and can roam centerfield.

That positional versatility will be appealing to the Lions and if they want to use Will Harris in the box more in 2020, Delpit is arguably the best single-high safety in this class.

Xavier McKinney, Alabama

Suggested by: Derek Okrie

McKinney has more positional flexibility than he gets credit for — having played in the box, over the slot, and single-high at Alabama — and has an incredibly reliable skill set. He is highly intelligent, an aggressive tackler, comfortable in space, can cover tight ends and running backs, and has a nose for the ball. McKinney is another top option, who if added to the Lions secondary, would give them three position-fluid athletes.

It wouldn’t be at all surprising if McKinney was the top safety on the Lions draft board.

Ashtyn Davis, California

Suggested by: Bryce Rossler

Another safety capable of playing single-high, over the slot, and in the box, Davis’ instincts aren’t as polished as McKinney or Delpit, but he could be the next safety off-the-boards immediately after them. Like Delpit, he is most comfortable up top where he can use his track athlete range to attack. Davis has a nose for the ball and the aggressive demeanor to make plays, filling the playmaker role the Lions are desperate for in their secondary.

Kyle Dugger, Lenoir-Rhyme

Suggested by: Scott Bischoff and Ty Finch

At 6-1, 217 pounds, Dugger is a rare athlete who looks like a linebacker but has a safety-like range. His physical strength and nose for the ball always keep him in the play, even when it looks like he will get lost in the wash. His lack of experience playing high-level competition is his only true knock but he showed the gap was much smaller than anticipated when at the Senior Bowl last month.

In the Lions scheme, he would fit into the Tavon Wilson role, and if you are a fan of Isaiah Simmons but don’t want to pay the high cost, Dugger is a player to keep on your radar on Day 2.

Antoine Winfield, Minnesota

Suggested by: Erik Schlitt

Despite being listed as a redshirt sophomore, Winfield is not as young as he appears, turning 22 years old during the season after receiving two medical redshirts in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he lit the Big Ten on fire with nine turnovers —  seven interceptions and two forced fumbles — and is capitalizing on his momentum by making the jump to the next level.

Winfield is strong in coverage and run support, using angles and excellent fundamentals to close down lanes. He is most comfortable at the single-high position, relying on his intelligence, instincts, and closing burst to make plays on the ball.

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Jordan Chinn, Southern Illinois

Suggested by: Jeff Risdon

At 6-3, 219 pounds, Chinn joins Dugger — and Isaiah Simmons if you consider him a safety — as draftable options with rare size for the position. He looks like a box safety/undersized linebacker but his background as a corner shows through when he is tasked with covering a tight end or running back. With the Lions, Chinn would likely fill the Tavon Wilson role.

Brandon Jones, Texas

Suggested by: Matt Urben

Jones trusts his eyes and has the speed to run will all sorts of offensive skill players at the intermediate and deep levels, but his best work is when he stays in zone concepts rather than man coverage. In the Lions scheme, Jones would fit in mostly as a single-high safety with the potential to occasionally drift over tight ends and wide receivers in the slot.

Antoine Brooks, Maryland

Suggested by: Zack Moran

A box safety who can live in shallow zones but not man coverage, Brooks is an aggressive tackler who will make his living as a situational/reserve defender and special teams standout. Fitting him in the Lions scheme will be challenging but he could fill the Tavon Wilson role if he wasn’t asked to cover as often.

Tanner Muse, Clemson

Suggested by: Sonja Greenfield

At 6-2, 230 pounds, Muse is bigger than a few of the true linebackers in this class. With the Lions, he could be an option as a Miles Killebrew replacement, as he can contribute on every special teams unit and could be a situational reserve WILL linebacker.

Vikings select safety Ashtyn Davis in third round of NFL.com mock draft

NFL.com predicted that California safety Ashtyn Davis goes to the Vikings in the third round. Do you like that choice?

The Vikings might not have enough money to sign safety Anthony Harris, who would command a pretty big price after getting six interceptions this season, tied for first in the NFL.

If that’s the case, the team will have to do something about the safety position. And Ashtyn Davis could be a possible solution to the problem.

NFL.com predicted that Davis would go to the Vikings in the third round of a mock draft. 

The redshirt senior out of the University of California finished with seven interceptions in his collegiate career. He also had 19 pass deflections and 171 solo tackles.

Davis could be an option, but in my opinion, the Vikings would need more than just him to replace a player of Harris’ caliber. Hopefully, if the team doesn’t have the money for Harris, they are able to still get a decent player on the free agency market.

NFL.com had the Vikings taking corner Trevon Diggs in the first round and wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden in the second. You can read more here.

Dallas Cowboys: Top 2020 NFL draft needs

The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of holes in their roster on both sides of the ball, so we break down the biggest ones

The Dallas Cowboys’ 2019 NFL season has been one of disappointment and inconsistency.

They are currently on pace to finish what should be the final season of the Jason Garrett era the way it started, with a 8-8 record. Sunday’s debacle proved that the Cowboys team is in desperate need of a few playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Offense

Tight End

Drops seem to have been the theme of the season, in fact Dallas’ top four receivers on the team have accounted for 24 total drops. It wasn’t just Amari Cooper who has been listed as the player who has led the league in drops since 2015. Cooper has the least amount of drops of the top four.

Michael Gallup (8), Randall Cobb (7) and Jason Witten (5) have been worse. The Cowboys need to find some reliability at the position.

For what feels like the fifth or sixth draft in a row the Cowboys need to find a tight end who can stretch the field. Hunter Bryant of Washington should be a player of interest.

The Cowboys do have Blake Jarwin but for whatever reason the Cowboys staff doesn’t seem to trust him in the passing game despite the fact that he averages more than a first down every two catches. He was targeted just once against Philadelphia which was a catch and first down.

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Jags find DL, secondary help in Draft Wire mock

The Jags found themselves with a potential successor for Jalen Ramsey in Draft Wire’s latest mock.

Despite some uncertainty surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars’ staff, fans have been anticipating what will be an interesting offseason for the team. Of course, the draft will be a big part of the 2020 offseason and the Jags are loaded with picks to make things right down the road thanks to the Jalen Ramsey trade.

All of that said, our comrade Luke Easterling released yet another mock for Draft Wire, which had several changes for the Jags in comparison to his last mock. In the first-round, the Jags seemingly got lucky with their first selection as Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah fell to them, which is a selection we’ve seen made for the Jags before. Like they did in last week’s mock, the also were slotted Clemson receiver Tee Higgins.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State

After trading one of the NFL’s best corners, the Jags need to replace Jalen Ramsey with one of their multiple first-round picks in this draft. They luck out here, as this year’s top cover man falls to them at this pick. Okudah is a complete player who can make an immediate impact at a premium position of need.

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)

Tee Higgins | WR | Clemson

After getting a defensive playmaker in the top 10, the Jags need to use their additional first-rounder in this draft to give their offensive a true No.1 receiver for whoever ends up throwing passes next season. Higgins has a rare combination of size, length, athleticism and body control.

We talked about Higgins last week, so we won’t really discuss him this time around. We’ve also talked about Okudah in the past, too. His addition, especially with Ramsey gone, would be huge. Scouts love his athleticism, hip fluidity, and ceiling as a man-to-man defender. He’s shown great versatility while at Ohio State and can hold his own well in zone coverage, too.
Afterward, the Easterling slotted the Jags two more players on the defensive side, an area where the Jags have been pretty bad during the second half of the season.

39. Jacksonville Jaguars | Marvin Wilson | DL | Florida State

76. Jacksonville Jaguars | Ashtyn Davis | S | California

Fans of the Jags are likely familiar with Marvin Wilson due to Florida State being up the road from Jacksonville. The 6-foot-5, 311-pound standout is athletic as fans will find at his size, which is what the Jags need with Calais Campbell being the Jags’ oldest player.

As for Ashtyn Davis, our own Daniel Griffis has written about him before in the past. He praised Davis’ range and tackling ability, which is a nice mix of traits to have as a safety. While the Jags have more pressing needs, Davis has the type of abilities that are hard to find in the back field and could be well worth a third-round selection in the end.