BYU Running Back Miles Davis is Ready to Take Advantage of His Opportunities in 2024

Injuries have limited Davis' availability throughout his career

BYU running back Miles Davis / BYU Photo

PROVO, UT - During the 2020 season, blowout wins became the norm for the BYU football team. In the closing minutes of those blowout games, then true freshman Miles Davis got his first reps at running back, a position that was brand new to him. Months earlier, Davis had signed with BYU as a wide receiver and defensive back. Davis was a star track athlete during his prep days in Las Vegas and he had the potential to play a handful of positions at BYU. Davis transitioned to running back and showed flashes of his potential when he got those late-game carries.

Davis began to transform his body to play his new position. "I for sure had to put on weight," Davis told BYU On SI. "I remember my first time coming in, I got hit and I felt every bit of that hit."

Miles Davis vs Troy in 2020 pic.twitter.com/5FpJT05N8S

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Adding weight and learning to run between the tackles was part of the learning curve for Davis. "I feel like back then I was, I'm not gonna say scared to run up the middle, but I didn't know how to," he said. "Especially me, coming from a receiver, I was running high, so just being able to get my pad-level low and running."

Davis began to transform his body to play his new position, and he used his experience from 2020 to propel him into a role for the 2021 season. During 2021 Fall camp, Davis was a standout according to offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick.

"Miles Davis. That guy is a good player," Roderick said back in August of 2021. "He's going to play for us. That's one I'll tell you - it needs to be said. He stands out every time he plays, he does something good. Same thing happened last year as a freshman. When he would get in games, he was playing at a different speed then everyone else."

Then, Davis suffered an injury before the season started and he missed most of the season due to injury. He finished the 2021 season with just one carry.

At the start of the 2022 season, BYU started Cal transfer Chris Brooks at running back. The Cougars struggled to establish the run during the first three games of the season. In back-to-back games against Baylor and Oregon, BYU's leading rusher was Chris Brooks with just 31 yards and 28 yards, respectively.

After another slow start on the ground against Wyoming the following week, Davis entered the game and provided a spark for the BYU offense. He got 13 carries in that game and he finished with a team-high 131 rushing yards, including a 70-yard run where he was stopped just short of the goal line. On what he remembers about that game, Davis said, "The big run...then I got caught. I was almost there and then it was like, "Dang it, I got caught." That was like the one thing I really remember."

The following week against Utah State, Davis was featured in the offense once again until he suffered an injury. After a first-down run, Davis came up limping.

Davis had climbed to the top of the depth chart. On the frustration he felt after suffering another injury, Davis said, "I feel like it was very frustrating for sure. It felt like I was so close to a dream and then it's like God was like holding me back like 'Be patient. It's not the time.' It was really hard, especially in the recent years when I got hurt before and then I finally, you know, got my shot...now it's just all about taking care of my body. So when I do get that time again, my body will be ready for it."

In 2023, Davis was buried behind a group of veteran running backs like Deion Smith, Aidan Robbins, and Hinckley Ropati. Then true freshman LJ Martin emerged and Davis only got 16 carries.

Going into 2024, Davis is ready to take on a bigger role in the offense. Throughout Fall camp, he has been running with the first and second-team offenses. Ropati and Martin will probably get the lion's share of the carries as long as they are healthy, but Davis will be featured in the BYU offense. If his showing during Fall camp is any indication, he is more than a speed back.

On multiple occasions during Fall camp, Davis has shown a new side to his game: physicality. "As a running back, I feel like in the past years, I was getting hit and I was like the nail instead of being a hammer. Now this whole off-season like spring ball going to the fall camp. I'm trying to be the the hammer."

Davis is up 20 pounds from when he first got to Provo. Now a redshirt junior, Davis is ready to take advantage of the opportunities to see the field in 2024.

Aaron Roderick says Davis is ready to be more than a role player. "Miles Davis is doing a good job," Roderick said when asked about BYU's top running backs behind LJ Martin during Spring camp. "He's reached the point now where he can run the whole offense, he's not a role player any more. He's had his moments in his career where he's done good things for us in a limited role. Now he knows how to do everything, he can just go into the game and play. It's good to see him at that stage."