Colts Scouting Report: Carlton Davis

Profile

Carlton Davis

Auburn

Cornerback

6’1″, 206 pounds

Arm Length: 32 3/4″

Hand Size: 8 7/8″

//widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=cfb&url=%2Fcfb%2Fplayers%2Fcarlton-davis-1.html&div=div_defenseCombine Results

(Rank among position in parentheses)

40 Yard Dash: 4.54 (N/A)

Vertical Jump: 34 (N/A)

Broad Jump: 124 (T-8th)

Bench Press: 16 (T-8th)

Strengths

Davis is a prototypical man press corner in the NFL. He has great height, weight, speed and most importantly, elite length. He is longer than most NFL corners today and uses his wingspan to jam corners at the line of scrimmage. Receivers who are not adept at releasing will get annihilated; he does an excellent job forcing his receivers outside. He turns and looks for the ball and uses his great hands to knock the ball away from receivers. Davis stays low in his backpedal when in tight coverage. He is extremely competitive and has the speed to stick with most receivers. He had experience playing against talented receivers in the SEC such as Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk.

Weaknesses

Davis does not move very well in space and is a bit high on his backpedal in trail and bail techniques. His IQ and instincts are not great in zone coverage. Davis has good speed, but not enough to run with some of the fastest receivers in the NFL. He gets a bit grabby at times; he plays the receiver before he turns to look at the ball. Davis racked up six pass interference calls in 2017. Davis struggles in turning his hips and finding the ball in off-man coverage. He is a physical tackler but often takes bad angles in his run support.

Colts Fit

After losing Rashaan Melvin this season, the Colts are paper thin at the cornerback position. Quincy Wilson, Nate Hairston, and Kenny Moore are all solid young players, but I doubt any bar Wilson could become a solid outside corner. Davis has all of the makings of a number one cornerback in the NFL. The Colts will play a 4-3 Tampa 2 defensive scheme, meaning he may have to play a decent amount of zone coverage. He will need to improve in that department but will make an immediate impact in the press man coverage. His ability to take a receiver out of the game will be an immediate boon to the Colts’ defense.

Overview

This cornerback class is absolutely stacked at the top. The Colts could go with Denzel Ward at six, but they may want to go other ways there. Isaiah Oliver, Josh Jackson, and Jaire Alexander all may be out of the Colts range as mid-late first round picks. The Colts could go with as many as two corners in the second round, and Davis could very well be a high second round pick for the Colts. Davis may have the highest floor of any corner in this class and would be a great pick to bolster the Colts secondary.

Ben Pfeifer is the Managing Editor of the Colts for Full Press Coverage, the AFC South Division Editor, and head NBA editor. Want to continue the discussion? Contact Ben Pfeifer on Twitter @Ben_Pfeifer_, @FPC_NBA and @FPC_Colts.

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