Ashtyn Davis projects better as a deep safety in the NFL

What’s known:

The 2020 NFL Draft will take place virtually.
California Golden Bears safety Ashtyn Davis will be drafted.

What’s not known:
How this virtual draft will go.
Where Ashtyn Davis will be drafted and WHERE he’ll play in the NFL.

Sure, that could be said about a lot of players but for Davis, it’s just another week or so of waiting until he hears his name called, and then at least a few months before he knows where he’ll be suiting up for the majority of his professional career. And I don’t just mean location or city/state.

I mean where on the field.

There’s much talk about where Davis will see the most of his success at the next level. Is he a true free safety that should roam around the backend of an NFL team’s secondary? Is he a hard-hitting, thumping kind of guy that can fly to the football like a strong safety?

He’s in between both of those positions but PFF took a look at the data to see if there was anything in his previous set of numbers and analysis that showcases if he’d be better of at either one of the positions.

Ashtyn Davis’ projected completion percentage allowed and playmaker rate generated in an environment where 70% of his coverage snaps are at deep safety, 15% are at slot corner and 15% are in the box. Dashed vertical lines are league median rates for rookie-deal safeties from 2015-2019.

This data above and a slew of other advanced numbers pit Davis as a true free safety, and much better suited to play that role at the NFL level.

There was a ton of success for Davis during his Cal career. Included in those successes were MVP on special teams two times, logging 48 career games out of 50 possible, 171 career tackles, 1,758 career all-purpose yards (a TON for a defensive-only player) and seven career interceptions. He was a ballhawk to its truest extent and dominated when he was on the field.

All this talk about where he’s best suited to play is just semantics at this rate. Just get this guy on the field no matter how you can. Odds are though, utilizing his ballhawkery (yeah, that’s a word) and his ability on special teams will definitely yield you the best returns.