UW Fresh Start (No. 22): Cam Davis Should Be Leading Running Back Entering Spring

He's still just a Husky sophomore with three seasons left to play.

Cam Davis seems like he's been around forever as a University of Washington running back. After all, he's on his third Husky head football coach.

Making his college debut in 2019, he took a handoff from Jacob Eason and snapped off a 7-yard gain on his lone carry after getting inserted unannounced in the middle of the Oregon game.

Later that season, Davis surprisingly carried the ball on the first Husky offensive play of the Las Vegas Bowl against Boise State and got dropped for a yard loss. That technically made him a UW starter for the first time, though he didn't draw another rush.

He came off the bench and appeared in all four games during the pandemic-restricted 2020 season, splitting time with three other backs.

Last fall, Davis appeared in all 12 outings and came off the bench to rush for 99 yards against Stanford and score on short runs against Arizona and Arizona State. He earned his second career start at Colorado in the next-to- last game.

Even with all of that college football activity spread out over three seasons, the 6-foot, 205-pound running back from Rancho Cucamonga, California, remains just a Husky sophomore.

After redshirting and receiving a COVID free year, Davis still could play three more seasons for the UW and new coach Kalen DeBoer.

He hasn't shown everything he's capable of doing with a football in his hands, such as breaking a long one. He has 4.49-second, 40-yard dash time, but his longest run remains 23 yards against ASU last season. The Huskies need to get him into open spaces more often.

"I'm confident in my speed," Davis said.

Sam and Cam / UW Athletics

Sam Adams and Cam Davis share a moment.

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Tucson TD :: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Cam Davis celebrates a 9-yard TD run at Arizona.

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Desert Rat :: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Cam Davis is surrounded by Husky teammates at the Arizona game.

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Follow his Blocker :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Cam Davis hits into the line against ASU.

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Getting Re-Buffed :: Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports

Cam Davis takes a hit at Colorado.

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Camp Moves / UW Athletics

Cam Davis runs through a fall camp drill. 

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Colorado Q&A / UW Athletics

Cam Davis takes part in a postgame interview session.

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A month until spring practice, we're offering intel and observations gathered on the UW football personnel in a series of stories on every scholarship player from No. 0 to 99. We'll review each Husky's previous starting experience, if applicable, and determine what comes next under DeBoer.

As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football beginning for everyone, including for the Huskies' No. 22 on offense.

Davis and cornerback Trent McDuffie arrived together and shared that same double deuce jersey throughout their mutual time in Montlake. McDuffie, the All-Pac-12 defensive back, since has moved on and put his name in the NFL draft.

This leaves Davis to compete in a running-back position group that lost sixth-year seniors Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant after they used up their maximum eligibility, but it's one that remains notably deep with seven scholarship players.

He is joined by junior Richard Newton, though Newton needs time to recover from a midseason knee injury, and four Texans in New Mexico transfer Aaron Dumas, Emeka Megwa, Jay'Veon Sunday and Caleb Berry, and locally produced redshirt freshman Sam Adams II.

Davis comes off a season in which he rushed 85 times for 308 yards and caught 14 passes for 115 yards. So there's still a lot of miles on him, a lot of yards to come spilling out.

The old coaching staff liked the running back a lot citing his toughness and durability. That included former Husky defensive coordinator and interim head coach Bob Gregory, who indicated he could have found plenty of uses for Davis.

"I'd take this kid at linebacker," Gregory said approvingly. "He's a tough kid."

UW Starter or Not: With two starts and no Newton available right away, Davis would seem to be the running-back leader coming in. He's opened games before and remains a strong starting candidate going forward. Yet the competition should be fierce, especially with Dumas' portal transfer arrival and tall of those young Texans, most notably Megwa, eager to to fill the role as the UW's workhorse runner.

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