35. Ashtyn Davis, S, Cal
Height: 6’1″ Weight: 202
40-Yard Dash: N/A
Bench Press: 14 reps
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: A small-school, small-time prospect at Santa Cruz High School in Santa Cruz, California, Davis had no football offers and had to walk on to the Cal track team, at which point he overwhelmed the Bears’ football staff with entreaties to be part of the team. He got on as a redshirt in 2015, and turned himself into a full-time starter by the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In four seasons on the field, Davis put up 171 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, 19 passes defensed, and seven interceptions.
Davis also became one of the better readers of quarterbacks in the NCAA, and he easily broke down this interception of Oregon’s Justin Herbert when asked about it at the scouting combine.
“Yeah, so we were in pattern match Cover-3, and I didn’t get an outside stem or anything so I knew kind of where he was running. I knew I had a post safety, followed him to my safety and undercut the route. It worked out. I actually train with him down in Proactive [Sports at the Marke] and I bug him about that every day.”
Stat to Know: You want Davis on that wall when it comes to single-high safety coverage, but as much as he was effective in his 409 snaps at free safety, he also had 120 snaps in the box, and 112 in the slot.
Strengths: Natural single-high and two-high safety who patrols the deep third with speed and transitional movement. Backpedal and hip turn check out. As a slot defender, has the quick turn and change-of-direction skills to hang with quicker receivers through different route concepts. Can scream into the box pre-snap with good body control. Closes to the ballcarrier quickly with the right mentality to limit big plays that originate outside his area. Has the raw ball skills and frame to create contested catches and force incompletions.
Weaknesses: Davis’ relative lack of experience shows up at times when his recognition skills falter, and his speed compounds the problem because he’s so quick to get where he’s going, and it’s not always the right place. Hits run fits with little in the way of GPS. Loses his way against play-action and misdirection. At times, he’s too tentative as he waits to diagnose. Will find himself a gap off in diagnosis too often.
Conclusion: There are NFL teams with defenses in various states of disarray solely because they don’t have a legitimate deep safety who can patrol the field and reduce the potential for big plays. Not everyone can acquire and develop an Earl Thomas or Anthony Harris, but the potential for such a player is also the potential to take one’s defense from the scrapheap to near the top. And in that narrow window, Davis should get a lot of first-round interest. He’s still learning, but his interception against Herbert detailed above puts him as a natural fit in a league where man and match concepts are becoming the order of the day.
NFL Comparison: Darnell Savage. When I watched Savage, the Maryland alum who the Packers selected with the 21st pick in the 2019 draft, I saw a similar player to what I now see in Davis in that Savage mixed an ascending skill set with a kamikaze playing style that needed a bit of seasoning before he was always going to be in the right place. But Savage’s potential was obvious, and so is Davis’. I compared Savage to Bob Sanders, and Davis has some elements of Sanders’ excellent play, as well.