Beat Chat: Q&A on Jaguars Tight End Tyler Davis with AJC
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets haven't been using a tight end for long. But they utilized Tyler Davis long enough to put him on team radars, resulting in the Jacksonville Jaguars taking Davis in the sixth round, No. 206 overall, in last month's draft.
To get a better feel for the skill set that Davis will bring to the Jaguars in 2020 and beyond, we talk with Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to go in-depth about who Davis is on and off the field.
Q: What made Davis a good 6th round pick…or did you expect him to go somewhere else?
Sugiura: I thought he had a chance to be drafted late, possibly the sixth or seventh round, but I thought it also possible that he would be an undrafted free agent. Davis showed well at his pro day (he was lucky that Georgia Tech’s was before the spread of the coronavirus canceled pro days at many schools) and demonstrated his ability at Tech (and at Connecticut), but he didn’t have a chance to undergo a physical at either the combine or at a top-30 visit. He wasn’t invited to the former and the coronavirus made the latter an impossibility.
Typically, teams are leery of drafting players without a physical, and so that alone made Davis something of a longshot. There was clear interest in him – he talked with about half the league-leading up to the draft – but it’s never certain what that means. It could mean they’re interested in him as a UDFA but it can also mean, as it evidently did with Jacksonville, that’s he’s draftable.
The fact that Jacksonville spent a draft pick on him without being able to put him through a physical (it would seem that teams were more relaxed on that matter) speaks to how much he was valued.
Q: What’s your favorite Tyler Davis play that encapsulates what kind of player he is?
Sugiura: I’m not sure it’s my favorite, but his longest reception at Georgia Tech was a 38-yard catch-and-run play against Virginia. Lined up in the slot, Davis exploited a breakdown in Virginia’s coverage and was wide open for a pass about nine yards past the line of scrimmage. From there, he used his speed to pick up another 29 yards. You don’t necessarily think of Davis as an especially fast player, but he can move, as that play showed.
Q: A former quarterback turned tight end, Davis brings some extra skills to the position. Where is he best utilized?
Sugiura: I think he can do anything you normally ask of a tight end. Tech lined him up wide, in the slot, in a three-point stance on the line and also as an H-back in the backfield. He was called on to lead block in the run game and to pass block as well as catch passes, so he has some versatility. He also played plenty on special teams. It seems like tight ends are flexed out on an almost exclusive basis; I’d think doing that would limit his impact.
Q: Are there any knocks or concerns with Davis' game?
Sugiura: There were some passes that he probably could have caught that he didn’t bring in, and he wasn’t targeted a great deal, so it’s hard to know how much of that would be a legitimate concern. He has shown pretty good hands. I think he’s better as a pass blocker than a run blocker.
Q: The Jaguars made a clear push for high character guys this draft. What does Davis bring to the locker room?
Sugiura: Very impressive character. Davis came to Tech as a grad transfer shortly after the hire of coach Geoff Collins, who was in desperate need of tight ends as the offense of the previous coach (Paul Johnson) did not use tight ends. There was playing time available, but Davis also was eager to go somewhere where he could lay a foundation and be a leader.
One of the things he did in leading the tight end group was to bring in all the tight ends on Sunday mornings to review film, arriving even before the coaches did. In the summer prior, he had them doing drill work at 5:30 a.m. before the team’s conditioning and weightlifting workouts.
He was voted a team captain at the end of the season, a noteworthy achievement for a player who had only been on the roster since last January. I suspect he’ll be someone who works hard and will do whatever is asked of him.
Q: Tight ends—and especially tight ends in the passing game—are still a new frontier at Georgia Tech, meaning there isn’t a ton of film on Davis. In your opinion, what is his ceiling?
Sugiura: I don’t know nearly enough about the NFL to make an educated assessment. But, it would seem he’s got the skillset and physical attributes to be an effective player. I don’t know if he projects to be a superstar, but I do think he’ll make the very most of his ability.
