2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: LB Jamin Davis, Kentucky

Jamin Davis is another linebacker prospect with the tools to play the game, but who is raw. Still, at the very least he could help out on special teams until he gets up to speed, so let's take a look at where he is at in his development.

LB JAMIN DAVIS

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 234 lbs.
Class: Junior (red shirt)
School: Kentucky 

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He is a former three-star recruit out of Ludowici, Georgia, where he attended Long County High School. Davis was the 92nd Georgian recruit, and the 915th nationally ranked prospect in the 2017 recruiting cycle. PFF named him First Team All-SEC in 2020.

Davis saw action in 36 total games and started 11 of them. Recorded 144 tackles, 5 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, five interceptions, and took one of them to the house against Tennessee in 2020. 

He had a great junior season that prompted him to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft; he had 102 tackles, 4 for a loss, 1.5 sacks, and three interceptions in 2020.

Traits

He has good height and weight for a linebacker with solid overall athletic traits. Possesses good short-area quickness to close width. He moves well laterally--can scrape over the top of blocks, shows a solid bend in his lower half, and can recoup his balance adequately.

He has a solid overall foot speed and long speed and did an excellent job as a back-side pursuit defender. He may not be an athletic freak type of linebacker, but he has the functional athletic ability and won’t be a liability.

He has a low, squatty stance that gives an impression of readiness. He has thick legs, a bubble, and long arms that he uses to stack & shed linebackers adequately. He could be a bit better at processing after the snap. 

He seems to have a slight hesitation when reading his keys and attacking laterally. He brings a lot of physicality to the tackle point. Wraps ball carriers low and swings them down violently.

I wish he did a better job with consistency when he processed the offensive play and scraped over the top. At times, he was sucked into the line of scrimmage and couldn’t use his length to its advantage.

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He has some pop in his hands when he stacks, but he has to leverage his length more consistently and not allow linemen into his chest. Instincts with his eyes and reaction ability could use some improvement and coaching.

A big question mark with Davis may be his usage at Kentucky. He was in a rotational role as a linebacker and was never the full-time, full snap share starter; this may, unfortunately, give NFL teams some pause.

There were stretches of games where Davis wasn’t on the field, and he was healthy. Outside of that gigantic question mark, there’s no doubt that Davis flashed.

Showed good ball skills in coverage and made several interceptions from just being in the right spot or adapting to tipped passes and making a play on the football. Is an adequate mover in space. He does a solid job blitzing; he comes downhill quick, with power and quality straight-line burst.

Overall, Davis is a solid athlete with good size who can move laterally, change directions well, and rely on short-area quickness/burst to come downhill violently. He needs coaching on the nuances of playing the position--reading his keys, reactive quickness, spatial awareness, eye discipline, instinct, etc.

He will be a good special teams player early on, but he may need some coaching and time to develop his skills before becoming a starter for an NFL team. 

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