Welcome Aboard: Detroit Southeastern OLB Ed Davis

by LVS on Aug 4, 2010 4:37 PM CDT in Michigan State Spartans Football

[Also: Tim Sullivan from mgoblog was good enough to post his evaluation of Davis--with lots of good information--here. --LVS.]

Detroit Southeastern linebacker Ed Davis became the 12th member of MSU's 2011 recruiting class earlier today. Bullets:

6'3", 215. (Rivals has him listed at 6'4", and Scout has him at 208 pounds, FWIW.) 4.5 40, 37 inch vertical.
Rivals: 3 stars, #19 prospect in Michigan.
Scout: 3 stars, #40 outside linebacker nationally.
ESPN: 3 stars, 77 rating.
Last season: 81 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 interception.
Offers from Michigan, Iowa, Cincinnati, Syracuse, and a host of MAC schools. RCMB stalking thread here.

Iowa and Michigan vigorously sought Davis's services, but he's been considered likely MSU player from the get-go. Relevant quote upon signing today: "Every time I went up to East Lansing, I felt comfortable. I know if I go there I have a good chance to go to the [NFL] and get a good education." Davis was a high school teammate of Will Gholston, who may have nudged the decision along: "Davis said Gholston being at MSU influenced his decision a little bit, but he added, 'It was my decision. It's my life.'"

As for his actual playing ability, Allen Trieu at at Spartan Digest says:

Excellent athlete who runs and covers like a defensive back. Changes directions well, has very good ball skills, as well as coverage awareness. Quickness and speed makes him dangerous as a blitzer and edge rusher, although he will need to add strength to continue to do that in college. In general, he needs to add weight, and bulk, which will help him take on and shed blockers.

That he's "dangerous as a blitzer" is borne out by his stats: Davis had 13.5 sacks in 10 games for for Southeastern last season, and 81 tackles overall. 215 pounds seems a bit slight for a 6'4" linebacker frame; surely addressing this will be a priority once he gets to MSU.

Davis's size and speed scream "3-4 outside linebacker," and that's almost certainly what he'll be in East Lansing. MSU should have excellent depth at middle linebacker, with Max Bullough, Lawrence Thomas, Steve Gardiner, and TyQuan Hammock (still love typing that name). Davis's commitment ensures quality on the outside as well, as he'll join Chris Norman, Denicos Allen, Taiwan Jones, and possibly Gholtson. Rest assured that MSU will have a fearsome linebacking corps long after Greg Jones heads to the NFL.

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Comments

Loaded at LBq

I like how Dantonio, et al, have been loading up the depth at LB, but am really concerned about our defensive backfield. It was the worst part of our D last season, we got carved up through the air. I know we’ve gotten a couple of really fast guys to commit so far this summer, but are we getting any DB depth of this caliber?!?!

by MSUDersh on Aug 4, 2010 9:49 PM CDT reply actions

Not to the degree we'd like to see.

Hopefully that’ll be high on the list of priorities going forward. But there are a couple of freshmen CBs (Mylan Hicks and Darqueze Dennard) who could play quite a bit this season.

PP-TPW.
The Only Colors

by LVS on Aug 4, 2010 11:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Davis

Should fit in very well in a 3-4 scheme as an OLB.

Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

by Seer on Aug 4, 2010 10:11 PM CDT reply actions

this...

Is a big get… why only 3 comments? A 3-star basketball recruit commits and the board explodes. We should be salivating over this guy. He’s a linebacker that can cover the whole field and I don’t worry about him dropping into coverage. Looks like another top 25 recruiting class in football. Time to make it work on the field coach.

by SpartyOn37 on Aug 5, 2010 12:19 AM CDT via mobile reply actions