With Jamal Adams gone from the New York Jets secondary, versatile rookie Ashtyn Davis steps in
At the time, the selection of New York Jets safety Ashtyn Davis in the third round of April’s NFL Draft was a bit of a head-scratcher. Given the Jets depth at safety, it was unclear why general manager Joe Douglas went all in on Davis.
And that is certainly no slight on Davis, whom some draft insiders felt had first round potential despite being just a walk-on to Cal’s football team and still very raw in terms of his development and technique. But now with the trade of safety Jamal Adams three weeks ago to the Seattle Seahawks, the opportunity for playing time has certainly opened up for Davis in the Jets backend.
“The selection of Davis was a somewhat foreshadowing move now that we have seen how the deck was dealt,” said Rick Serritella of the NFL Draft Bible.
“His versatility to line up in the slot, linebacker or adaptability to play either safety position provides defensive coordinator Gregg Williams with the chess piece he desires. Entering his final season at Cal, Davis bulked up an additional 15 pounds in preparation for his transition to the pros. Despite the limited offseason activity, the Jets will have no choice but to depend on Davis to play a key role in 2020. “
Davis is a former track star and one of the fastest athletes in the Pac-12. His athleticism allows him to help at either safety position and potentially in the slot as well.
And while Davis likely won’t start at safety, at least initially, the possibility for serious reps is certainly there. Marcus Maye returns at safety and Bradley McDougald, acquired in the trade of Adams, will likely slot in next to Maye. After that, Davis is the next man-up as well as being able to assist in the slot and on special teams.
"I’ve gone all the way back into his high school film, we’ve done all of those types of things, film in college, but again there’s another guy that’s had to prove himself and I love the fact that he had to walk on and he had to do everything he could to just get a scholarship and get some time at the college level to play, but he’s done very well with everything we’ve seen," Williams said on a call Thursday with the media,
"He’s going to have to slow down mentally and that’s what happens when any young guy comes into our league and this league is not one of those things where you just do a couple of things and let him go. We have to do more than that to be able to mask some of the deficiencies, to be able to pose more problems to the opponent’s offenses and the matchups there, but he is a sharp guy, he is very sharp mentally, he’s extremely hardworking and has a very good skill set."
