What do the advanced numbers say about Gregg Williams‘ new chess piece in the back end?
Few Jets fans were expecting the selection of a safety in the third round, but when Ashtyn Davis slid all the way to No. 68 overall, Joe Douglas decided to pull the trigger.
The Jets agreed to sign former Rams safety Marqui Christian back in March, but the deal fell through. Targeting Christian made it clear that the team had its eyes on adding a third safety that can play in nickel and dime packages while also having the potential to fill Marcus Maye‘s shoes in 2021 if a contract extension is not agreed upon.
Does Davis fit the bill? Let’s look to the numbers.
Positives
Versatility
Davis is not necessarily a Jamal Adams-esque Swiss army knife (hardly anybody is), but he has the ability to take on a variety of roles in the passing game. In 2019, Davis played 409 snaps at free safety, 120 in the box, and 112 as a slot cornerback.
Downhill finishing
Davis is best known for his abilities in coverage, but he gets the job done at an effective level when he does have to come down and play the run, similar to Maye.
No safety in the Pac-12 recorded a better grade in run defense than Davis did in 2018, with a score of 78.4. That mark fell to 68.9 in 2019, but it was still above-average.
Overall, Davis made 57 tackles and missed eight in 2019, giving him a miss rate of 12.3% that ranked at the 70th percentile among all safeties in the nation. In the running game, he made 21 tackles while missing just two, a miss rate of 8.7% that would have ranked at the 77th percentile among qualified NFL safeties in 2019.
From 2017-18, Davis collected 83 tackles while missing on only 10, an excellent miss rate of 10.8%.
To boot, Davis recorded two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble in 2019 after picking up just one of each over his first 34 career games.
Top-tier overall production
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