Michigan State recruiting: Welcome Aboard- Felton Davis III

Wide Receiver Felton Davis III

From:

Highland Springs, Virginia (Highland Springs) [alma mater of MSU DL coach Ron Burton]

Height/Weight

between 6'3'' and 6'4'', between 172 and 175 lbs.

Ratings

consensus 3*

Notable Offers

Louisville, Miami, Missouri, Nebraska, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, West Virginia

Thoughts on Offer List

Basically everyone in Virginia offered the kid, with Virginia Tech and Virginia being the big names, but Old Dominion and James Madison also threw their hats in. Outside of the state, the runner ups of last year's SEC and American conferences offered in Missouri and Louisville. Fellow Big Ten programs Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois also pursued Davis III.

Thoughts on Film

There's no point in being 6'3'' if you don't play like you're 6'3'', so I liked to see that Davis and his team were willing to throw him a bit of a higher ball then you'd normally try to. However, it was also nice to see that he had a couple of smooth 'normal' routes, and some nice sense of finding open space in non-jump ball situations. In particular, on that film at one point he runs a stick route to the sideline, notices the CB is too shallow and the safety too deep, and turns up-field into an open pocket of space of a big gain. Good stuff. His HS offense seems reasonably pass friendly, though lots of 3-5 WR sets mean the ball is getting spread around quite a bit, to the detriment of Davis III's stats.

It's also nice to see a willing blocker at WR. There are a couple clips of him sealing corner backs in the above video, and more still in his sophomore tape. Right now, he doesn't seem the type to drive his opposition into the turf or anything, but that sort of power can come with college strength training, and that's not necessarily true of mentality.

Davis III appears a pure wide receiver, a likely fit for the Cunningham/Lippett possession receiver role. At ~175 pounds, it's unlikely he puts on the type of weight to become a TE. For comparison, Juwan Caesar, another taller receiver, who eventually bulked out of the WR position, was more like 200 pounds in high school.

Outlook on the Rest of the Class

Davis III is the 9th commit in the 2015 Spartan recruiting class and the first true wide receiver. He also represents the first recruit MSU has pulled out of the state of Virginia in quite some time, and is a feather in coach Burton's hat in that respect. I would expect MSU takes at least one more wide receiver (or WR/RB hybrid) in the 2015 class, probably someone who could also make a special teams contribution in the return game.

Davis III is a recruit with bundles of potential, at a position of need in this class. Congratulations Felton, and welcome to MSU!