Round 2, Pick 45

Ashtyn Davis, S, California

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Class: RS Senior

D.O.B.: 10/10/96

Statistical Profile: Davis played in 48 of 50 possible games with the Golden Bears, including 33 starts, 30 at safety and three at cornerback. He switched to safety during his redshirt sophomore season in 2017, amassing six interceptions and nine pass breakups over the past two seasons. Davis served as the team’s primary kick returner in 2017 and 2018. The redshirt senior did not play football as a freshman on campus in 2014, instead starting his four-year track-and-field career, during which he became an All-American. Davis joined the Cal football team in 2015 as a walk-on, but redshirted. He’ll turn 24 about a month into his rookie season after six years in college, so he is a little bit of an older prospect if you care about that for a safety.

Where He Wins: I began Davis’ film study believing he’d likely be available at 45, now I’m not so sure. Davis played all over the Golden Bears defense, aligning as a deep safety, in the slot, in the box as a pseudo-linebacker and off the edge as an overhang safety. He was excellent in every role at California, but where he really shines is where every top safety prospect should: in coverage.

Davis is an elite athlete whose track background has translated smoothly to the football field. His range on the back end is eye-popping, helping him make incredible plays on the ball and the receiver from a single-high position.

A noted tape junkie, Davis is hardly ever in the wrong place, showing outstanding awareness and execution of his assignment. Given the fact that he played all over the defense, that ability to execute with consistency is even more impressive. At the same time Davis won’t play it safe, often staying off his assignment to bait quarterbacks into throws before using blinding quickness to close on the ball. It’s absolutely fair to label him a ball-hawk in man and zone coverage, and Davis also does an excellent job targeting the ball as a tackler, often punching and stripping at the ball. The dude has excellent hands too, making some highlight reel catches on his interceptions.

What makes Davis really special is that he has a brief cornerback background that shows up every time Cal asked him to play in man, as his short area quickness and clean footwork allowed him to stay on top of receivers on all sorts of routes. He reads hips extremely well from off-coverage, breaking with receivers to play in their pocket as the ball arrives. In vertical coverage Davis’ hip flip is smooth and his long speed is excellent to carry receivers down the seam or sideline.

Some would assume with his track background that Davis might be tackling-averse, but that is definitely not the case. He has no qualms with the physical aspects of the game, and although he isn’t typically a big hitter, there are even examples of that in his skill set too. Davis can absolutely play around the line of scrimmage, but with his traits in deep and man coverage, there likely won’t be much reason to deploy him in that role.

All indications are that Davis is a football junkie who is insanely dedicated to the sport, even to the point of playing through injuries and turning down a scholarship as a track athlete to continue working toward earning one as a football player after walking on at Cal. Although it is hard to tell much on tape, there are plenty of shots of Davis aligning the defense and communicating coverages, suggesting a player with the football IQ to be an early starter in the NFL.

Where He May Struggle: While Davis is plenty willing as a tackler, he still misses more stops than he should. Most of his misses come from stopping his feet a bit too early and failing to bring his pads and momentum behind him as a tackler. He can get juked out throttling down with too much distance between himself and the ball-carrier, where he might fare better if he closed a bit quicker. Then there are other times where he comes in reckless and throws his arms at ball carriers rather than hitting and wrapping up.

Davis is still learning to process his run fits quickly, and sometimes he struggles to sift through trash around the line of scrimmage and find the football. His run defense is adequate, which is fine for how he should be used in the NFL, but it could stand to be more consistent.

In coverage I really don’t have many concerns. He’ll face an obvious uptick in competition and will need to continue to grow in his deep zone awareness, especially of routes coming across his face, but I watched six games of Davis and parts of several others. As long as he keeps developing from the neck up, he’s the real deal as a deep safety and even in man coverage.

Bucs Fit: If Justin Evans is healthy and ready to roll in 2020, perhaps Davis isn’t a need at all. The Bucs safety room is crowded, but Todd Bowles loves to use three-safety looks in his defense, and Tampa currently does not have a quality free safety option with Evans out, as we didn’t see enough good film from Mike Edwards, last year’ third-round pick, to make that conclusion yet.

Tampa Bay had just two interceptions all season from both safety spots combined. What the Bucs need on their back end is a play-maker, and that’s exactly what Davis is. He makes plays on the football and can be a huge asset in eliminating mismatches within opposing offenses. Davis’ man coverage abilities could be extremely valuable in a league moving to bigger slot receiver options.

Davis is everything Bowles loves in a safety – tastefully aggressive, a ball-hawk, tough, smart and versatile. The only question is if he’ll be there at 45, and if the Bucs will have a need or not. That depends on Evans’ status, so file away the name “Ashtyn Davis” until we learn more about the health of the Bucs’ fourth-year pro.