The speedy Ashtyn Davis joins a New York Jets secondary that needed a third safety in the Big Dime and a guy who can help deep.
Ask the late Al Davis… speed kills. Speed kills anywhere on the field at every position—especially these days with the zone-read scheme taking hold. But it’s especially the case at free safety.
California product Ashytn Davis brings incredible speed and athleticism to the position. The 110-meter-hurdle star will slot right into the No. 2 hole on the depth chart and, most likely, serve as the second deep-safety option alongside Marcus Maye, most notably in the Big Dime.
The question remains, “Is that all he can do at the next level, play centerfield or 2-deep?”
Blewett’s Blitz dives into the film, bringing you 30+ reps from Davis’s collegiate days.
***The clips come first with Blewett’s text analysis to follow. Only SUBSCRIBERS can view the entire article.
***The FULL film breakdown in video form can be found at the bottom of this article (subscribers only) or on the Blewett’s Blitz homepage. A free preview can be found at the YouTube and Podcast episodes.
Davis follows his man in the “across motion” who becomes the No. 2 up top. Davis lines up in off-man coverage as the wide receiver bends inside to run his over-route. I would like to see Davis stay overtop of the wideout who is showing an inside stem.
Davis also keeps his eyes on the quarterback for too long throughout the rep, which gains the WR additional separation. The ball hits the ref but the WR was open.
Davis (deep on near hash) is responsible for the middle-third of this Cover 3 Cloud. The offense runs a mesh (bottom No. 1 and top No. 3) along with a dagger (top No. 1 and 2 with the dig and streak, respectively). Davis drops while reading the QB’s eyes, eventually getting overtop of the post/bender from the No. 2. He sees the QB hit the dig from the outside WR, gets downhill and makes the tackle.
Davis is in off-man coverage on the No. 2 WR on the bottom. The WR runs a quick slant as Davis shuffles inside and opens once the WR breaks inside. Davis’s eyes go back to the QB as he closes ground on the WR (a big no-no). The WR breaks back outside (doesn’t look to be by design) as he loses Davis because he doesn’t have his eyes on.
As the WR makes his way outside, Davis again takes his eyes back to the QB, allowing the WR even more room. Not a good rep for Davis here.
I think that Davis has the ability/movement skills to develop into a man defender (both on tight ends, running backs and maybe even wide receivers), but that was one of his weaknesses in 2019. Here he is in press against the WR (bottom slot), and he lunges for contact after taking a false step.
The WR uses a split release and ducks under Davis’s hands throwing Davis completely off-balance. Luckily, the WR ran a short route and the QB got pressured quickly.
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