Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay’s first-round pick in the 2020 Draft, was one of the most mind-boggling athletes in this year’s class, running a 4.85 40-yard dash time and jumping clear out of a pool at 320 pounds. But in the sixth round, the Bucs added another athletic and versatile big man, this time on the defensive line by way of Nebraska defensive tackle Khalil Davis.

Davis, who told the media via a virtual press conference on Saturday that he had faced Wirfs for a few reps in 2019, actually ran a 4.75 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, weighing in at 308 pounds.

DT Khalil Davis – Photo courtesy of Nebraska

“I did go up against [Wirfs] a few times,” Davis said. “I didn’t know he was that athletic. I remember, at the combine, watching his 40 and I said there’s no way he’s faster than me. And I said, if I can’t run faster than that I’m going to be upset. He’s a great player. I only went up against him a few times but he’s very athletic.”

Davis credits his athleticism to staying active as a kid and playing a number of sports that consistently kept him on his feet and moving around.

“I did a lot, my parents kept me active as a kid,” Davis said. “I started running track when I was around nine or 10 competitively. Like USA, AAU track before I started to throw. I did swimming, I was just in a lot of sports that kept me active and was always on my feet moving.”

Then as Davis and his twin brother Carlos began to put on serious size for football and track and field, their diet became so large in high school that the brothers’ parents were pushed to get a second refrigerator just to accommodate the family’s grocery list.

“They had to get a second refrigerator in their room,” Davis said. “And their grocery bill got way too expensive my senior year because of the two of us. It was hard for them to keep up with that but yeah, they had to get a second refrigerator.”

Davis continued, explaining that while dinner was generally the only meal they would have to eat at home through high school, it was a heavy plate.

“Me and Carlos were on a strict diet of a pack of 12 boneless chicken thighs and a can of corn. We ate that almost every night but the packs were like eight, 10, 12 and they were never enough so we had to get a pack of our own and they would just stuff the refrigerators with that. A can of corn and eight or nine chicken thighs were gone every day.”

That rare mix of size and athleticism allowed Davis to be extremely versatile at Nebraska, a staple among defensive coordinator’s Todd Bowles’ defensive fronts, playing everything from a 6-technique defensive end to a 0-technique nosetackle. And now that the NFL journey is just beginning for one of the Bucs’ new additions, Davis says that he’s just excited to get to work and learn, especially from the other former Huskers on Tampa Bay’s roster, Lavonte David and Ndamukong Suh.