Inside Linebacker
Rod Davis
College: Southern Mississippi
Year: Senior
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 246
Birthday: April 2, 1981
Strengths: Rod Davis had to be more than just good to win the Conerly Trophy, Mississippi’s in-state version of the Heisman, in 2002. Davis was the first defensive player and the first Southern Miss player to receive the award, and he had to wrest it away from the previous winner, Ole Miss golden boy Eli Manning.
Davis is a natural middle linebacker with the instincts to find the ball and the speed to get to it. As his sack and tackles for loss stats indicate, he is very adept at reading his keys, diagnosing the play, and penetrating the offensive backfield. Davis delivers some big hits, but not at the expense of missing tackles. He recorded double-digit tackles in every game last year but one, and in that one he had nine stops.
Davis is the unquestioned leader of the Golden Eagle defense, and he takes that responsibility very seriously. He has tried to learn the best approach to motivate each individual teammate, since not every player responds best to someone getting in his face. Off the field, Davis received his degree in business administration degree last May.
Areas of Concern: Davis needs to become more consistent from play to play. After making a big play, he tends not to be as focused on the next snap.
Even though he was a defensive back prior to his senior year in high school, Davis is better at attacking the line of scrimmage than dropping into coverage.
How Would He Look in Steel Blue? Davis could be a star in the Texans’ linebacker-focused defensive scheme. His productivity, physical talents, and instincts would be a very nice fit at one of the inside linebacker spots. The Texans have Jamie Sharper and Jay Foreman locked up for a few more years, so they probably have higher priority positions to address at the point that Davis would be available.
(profile written by Warren DeLuca
)
Rod Davis’ 2002 Stats G TCK TFL SACK FF FR INT 14 122 23.5 10.5 1 3 2
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