Top Defensive Linemen in NFL Draft: Raekwon Davis

Alabama’s Raekwon Davis, whose toughness became apparent in 2017, ranks No. 7 among this year’s defensive line prospects.

Alabama’s Raekwon Davis, whose toughness became apparent in 2017, ranks No. 7 among this year’s defensive line prospects.

On Aug. 27, 2017, Alabama sophomore Raekwon Davis was shot in the leg.

On Sept. 2, 2017, he recorded a sack against Florida State.

“Yeah, it was difficult, but I had to get through it,” Davis said matter-of-factly at the Scouting Combine.

The “freakish” incident was a matter of being in the “wrong place at the wrong time,” Davis said. What playing six days later showed was his toughness, determination and focus.

“I’m just a special kid,” Davis said. “I’ve got high work ethic. I just work hard. I love the game, I love to do what I do.”

Davis was a three-year starter and three-year all-SEC performer for the Crimson Tide, though his production waned from 69 tackles (10 for losses) as a sophomore to 55 tackles (5.5 for losses) as a junior and 47 tackles (three for losses) as a senior. Of his 11.5 career sacks, 8.5 came as a sophomore. His pressure count went from 33 in 2018 to 26 in 2019, according to Pro Football Focus. He blamed himself for buying too much into the media hype.

While he wasn’t an All-American as a senior, he was proud of earning his diploma in exercise science. “Nobody can take that away from me. Football can end at any time, but you’ll still have one thing you can fall back on. You spend three and a half years to get it, nobody can take it away, and you can do whatever you want with it.”

What we like

Just open your eyes. At 6-foot-6 1/8 and 311 pounds with 33 7/8-inch arms, Davis is an enormous man fully capable of anchoring a defensive line. With long arms, strong legs and natural power, he’s an old-school run-stopper. When he keeps his pads down, he’s practically immoveable, even against double teams. When he’s on his game, his mere presence automatically means an improved run defense. He’s got the agility to flow down the line vs. zone runs. “I’m a great run stopper.”

What we don’t like

Obviously, it’s the pass rush. Davis had 8.5 sacks as a sophomore but a total of two as a junior and senior. “When I sit down with teams, they want to see more of my pass rush,” he said. “If my first move doesn't work, they want to see that second move come faster.” While picking a two-down defender with an early pick isn’t ideal, you can live with that if the run defense is dominant. However, that hasn’t always been the case, either. His TFL count has gone from 10 as a sophomore to a combined 8.5 his final two seasons. His run-stop percentage, a Pro Football Focus metric that essentially measures the impact of tackles, ranked 11th out of our top 25 defensive linemen. On runs directly at him, the opponents had a 51 percent success rate, according to Sports Info Solutions. That was next-to-last in our top 25. There’s not a lot of explosion; his 10-yard time of 1.78 seconds was the fourth-slowest among the defensive linemen who ran the 40 at the Combine. “I’m 6-7, I’m a big guy, I can do a lot of things. My favorite is stopping the run, I can pass rush. I’m a great player, I know that.” Can he become great? The pressure will be on his NFL position coach. 

Bill Huber’s Defensive Line Profiles

No. 1: Auburn’s Derrick Brown

No. 2: South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw

No. 3: TCU’s Ross Blacklock

No. 4: Missouri’s Jordan Elliott

No. 5: Auburn’s Marlon Davidson

No. 6: Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike

No. 7: Alabama’s Raekwon Davis

No. 8: Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore

Nos. 9-20: Best of the Rest