SI All-American Candidate Elijah Davis Highlights and Evaluation
Prospect: Elijah Davis
Status: SI All-American candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-3, 260 pounds
Position: Defensive End
School: Wagener (S.C.) Wagener-Salley
Schools of Interest: South Carolina, West Virginia, East Carolina, Western Kentucky, Tennessee Chattanooga, Georgia State and Campbell.
Projected Position: Defensive End/Tackle
Frame: Big and well-proportioned. Adequate natural width across upper body; already carries significant muscle. Long arms. Thicky, tightly-wound thighs and trunk. Slender calves. Lacks unlimited growth potential, but could easily carry more weight.
Athleticism: Solid strength and overall power. Arrives with major force as tackler. Good feet, though lacks degree of short-area quickness. Adequate open-field speed. Tight hips limit overall mobility in space.
Instincts: Not overly physical given frame. Finesse player at this point who prefers to win with speed, quickness. Takes good angles when flattening down line of scrimmage. Surprisingly effective tackler in space; chops feet and gets low to mitigate quickness disadvantage.
Polish: Raw. Doesn’t use arms or hands effectively against blockers. Low stance, but tendency to quickly lose base. Needs to add pass-rush moves; overly reliant on natural tools, rip.
Bottom Line: Davis shows more athletic dynamism on film than underwhelming recent testing numbers suggest. Plenty quick and strong for strong-side defensive end, but ceiling highest with additional weight at tackle. Needs to be coached-up regardless. Potential Power-5 contributor, but could be best suited for lower level.