Austin Davis Scouting Report QB Southern Mississippi

Every year there are some players who seemingly come out of nowhere to be selected higher than anyone expected them to, this year that player could be Southern Mississippi quarterback Austin Davis. Davis is an under-publicized name that might just shock some people in the pre-draft process. Davis plays at the same school Brett Favre played at in college and has broken some of Favres school records. Is Davis the next Brett Favre? No, but he will have a shot at making it in the N.F.L.

This Scouting report is a serious work in progress I have to watch more Austin Davis before I have  a more informed opinion, but this is a start.

For all of our other scouting reports (and those ones are not works in progress) go to our scouting report page

Update: 12/3/2011

Looks like I posted this too early! Davis is a hot name today as he just ruined the Houston Cougars and Case Keenum’s hopes to make a BCS bowl, costing Conference USA millions. It was also kind of Davis’ coming out party as he threw four touchdown passes

Measurables

6’2 219 pounds

4.76 40 yard dash, 31 inch vertical, 109 inch broad jump, 6.73 3 cone drill, 4.11 20 yard shuttle.

Stats

2011:

2010:

Pros

Good athlete..good, but not great arm…has been productive with inferior talent…film room junkie (reportedly)…added 20 pounds from last year to this year in an attempt to improve arm strength…heady..moves around well in the pocket…doesn’t force a ton of throws…picks up yards on the ground, but isn’t a run first quarterback by any means…throws a pretty spiral most of the time…improved with his progressions throughout college

Cons

Doens’t have ideal quarterback height…has a pretty good arm, but doesn’t have a great arm…doesn’t stretch the field…need to see more accuracy on his down the field passes that he does make

Player comparison:

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills (without the creepy beard)

I think Davis could develop into a Fitzpatrick kind of player, a guy who can run some kinds of offenses use some mobility be a guy that starts for a few years, but never really a franchise guy.

Bio

Earned second team All-Conference USA honors and was a C-USA All-Academic Team member for his successful season both on the field and in the classroom … Graduated earlier this month in business administration … Started in all 12 games and has started in all 30 games he has played in his career, missing eight contests in 2009 with a foot injury … Posted an 18-12 record as a starter … Thrown for 2,898 yards on 259-of-410 passing attempts (63.2) with 18 touchdowns and just six interceptions … Has thrown for a touchdown pass in each of the last nine games and in 27 of 30 games in his career … Has 51 career TD passes, just one behind school leaders Lee Roberts (1995-98) and Brett Favre (1987-90) … Ranks third on the school’s career passing charts with 7,191 yards … Has five multi-TD throwing games, including each of the last three contests … Tied a career-best for TD throws with four in knocking off nationally ranked UCF (11/13) … Threw 41 passes of 20 or more yards during the season, including a season-long 67-yard strike to Quentin Pierce against Tulsa (11/26) for a touchdown … Needs 102 yards to throw for over 3,000 yards for the season (the only QB to accomplish that feat; he tallied 3,128 yards in 2008) and 231 yards to become the school’s all-time leader for passing yards … Has posted 10 rushing touchdowns to give him 21 for his career, trailing Reggie Collier’s 26 (1979-82) for the most by a Southern Miss QB … Ranks third on the team in rushing with 436 yards on 132 carries … Notched second 100-yard rushing game with 111 on 17 carries and four rushing scores against Houston (11/20) … Added two TD passes to give him six total touchdowns for the contest … Named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week (11/22) for his exploits against Houston … Was Rivals.com’s C-USA’s Player of the Week following both the UCF and Houston games … A C-USA Commissioner’s List honoree for the 2009-10 academic year … Named to Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during the spring semester …

Video

vs Houston 2011

(Mari0clp)

Makes a huge catch