Cal head coach Justin Wilcox praises Jets draft pick Ashytn Davis: 'a lot of room to grow'
Ashtyn Davis is a special athlete and the New York Jets are getting a raw player who is still an unfinished product. To hear Justin Wilcox, Davis’ head coach at Cal, the Jets are getting a player who is just beginning to scratch the surface on his potential.
A former walk-on at Cal, the safety was a three-year starter who had 171 career tackles, 19 passes defended and seven interceptions. A track star who was an All-American in the hurdles at Cal, he also was a huge asset on special teams. Davis was a bit of a surprise selection to NFL Draft insiders and most Jets fans, who didn’t see safety as a pressing need on the team.
But Davis is such a special athlete with upside, according to Wilcox, and that makes his development the past few years unique. The Jets defense is a great fit for Davis, according to his former head coach in college.
“I still think you know one of the best things he does is play the middle of the field overlap and people play a lot of post-defense and half-field defense where they got, you know, vision on the quarterback in the middle of the field to break and make a play on the ball,” Wilcox said Friday night on a conference call.
“And, you know, I just think that's something that he does exceptionally well and will continue to get better at but we still got a lot of room to grow. He's not a finished product. And that’s where it will be fun to watch and see how it develops and that best position and see what he becomes.”
Davis projects at either safety position. In addition, he is versatile and athletic enough to play cornerback.
In some ways, he is like a high school recruit who was so talented that he played quarterback but is such a good athlete that he’s being recruited at four or five spots on the field.
His best position, Wilcox said, is open to debate.
“I don't know the answer to that, I agree that Ashtyn is young as a player, he’s played for safety for three years,” Wilcox said.
“And just the training prior was – he’s just an athlete you know he’s a kid who grew up in Santa Cruz, riding dirt bikes and cliff jumping, you know, he is that guy. He’s a high hurdler and has gotten really good, really fast in running the hurdles and it'll be fun to watch. But I agree that he's still very much a work in progress and that's a good thing - that's a compliment because he's done a lot so far.”
