PatriotMaven Scouting Profile: Quartney Davis
Quartney Davis is a later round prospect that every New England Patriots fan should get to know. The Texas A&M Aggie has been undervalued due to some injury concerns and failing to meet higher expectations. However, he has all the tools to give the Patriots what they are looking for at the receiver position.
The most concerning piece with Davis is his 2016 ACL tear. That might be one of the main things separating him from the consensus second tier receiver group with guys like KJ Hamler, Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson, and Jalen Reagor. Aside from that, his lack of production (54 receptions, 616 yards, four touchdowns) is more so because of poor quarterback play. A change of scenery would help in that category for sure.
Overall, Davis is a fundamentally-sound receiver with potential 4.3 speed. He runs the slant route better than anyone in the draft class and beats his defender off the line of scrimmage. Most of all, he showed impressive ability to consistently separate. A separation artist with 4.3 speed is exactly what New England needs to get their offense going.
Let's take a further dive into Davis, who is a potential fourth-round steal:
Hands/tracking
- His hands are kind of a mixed bag. There is some good and some bad.
- Davis showed a strong ability to high point the ball
- Davis did struggle with some drops through his career and seemed to struggle with securing the ball into his frame.
Speed and athleticism
- Look for Davis to run a 40-yard dash close to Andy Isabella's last year. Isabella ran a 4.31 in the combine and received lots of draft hype for it. Davis will probably be in a group with Jalen Reagor, Henry Ruggs, and KJ Hamler for the fastest guys at the combine.
- Davis isn't really a jump-ball receiver, as he is generally so separated from his defender that he doesn't need to make contested catches or jump-ball catches. However, when he has to go up and gets it, he never really has a problem. He mantains nice body control.
Size
- Davis is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver, which is pretty good for a pro.
- His speed and size will matchup pretty well against slot corners. The inside game will be a place where he excels as his size-speed combo will help him excel off the slant route.
Route-running and separation
- Davis could be one of the best route-runners in this entire class and he is a professor in creating separation. It all really stems from his strong understanding of fundamentals and proper receiver play.
- He is also extremely refined, having very little wasted motion. His routes are nice and crisp. Clearly very practiced and worked on. None of those skills come overnight.
- He can be a vertical threat along with a slot receiver. His speed and technique allows him to stack his routes, get by his defenders, and get back to his landmark to take his route vertical again.
Smarts and awareness
- Davis has solid awareness and great, active eyes. He seems to keep notice of his defender's hips, which help him navigate through his routes and create separation.
- His reaction time is very strong, which only speaks more to his awareness. This allows him to make nice cuts and stop on a dime, evade tacklers in space.
Physicality
- By far, not even close, his worst trait.
- Davis can really struggle with a defender up in his grill. While his footwork is extremely refined, his upper body work, like his hand fighting, is extremely limited and requires more attention.
- Davis can eat zone coverage alive, but tight, press shuts him down often. An improvement in his stance would help him get more physical in press situations, which the fix is not too hard. Simply getting his hands off his knees and bringing his legs a little less spread apart would help get off the line quicker and get his hands up and ready to fight his guy.
Blocking
- Davis never really showed evidence of being a strong blocker. He struggles with physicality. Naturally, he won't be the strongest run blocker.
- He can develop a nice base and get in a defender's way. However, when it comes to the punch and getting hands on the guy, his blocking is rather ineffective.
Production
Here is a big knock on him from lots of scouts. Injuries and poor quarterback play really tampered down his career stats.
Quartney Davis career stats, per Sports Reference
Many people expected a lot more from Davis, when in reality, a change of environment will really help him become more productive. Along with some healthy seasons.
Film
This is an excellent fade route by Davis here. This is how coaches teach players to run the fade. Technique on display here. Also, he has proved to be a strong red zone threat, which could help New England a ton.
Nice route by Davis. He runs a very diverse route tree. Slips under a defender here for the touchdown. He has strong YAC ability.
Here is one of his slant routes. Davis catches it in traffic and uses his YAC ability and breakaway speed to make yet another house call.
Fit
Davis would bring two things to the the Patriots that were certainly lacking last season: speed and separation. He looks to be extremely versatile, which would help the team as well. He might even be able to contribute on special teams. Davis would also seemingly be a solid contributor in the redzone, which is another area in which New England struggled last season.
The way I see it, there are some flags for sure. The injuries are especially not encouraging and Davis' lack of physicality needs some work. Besides that, he might be everything the Patriots need and would not cost a lot of draft capital to find out if he truly is.
