Devante Davis: 2015 NFL Scouting Report

Sep 13, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UNLV Rebels wide receiver Devante Davis (81) heads for the end zone for a second half touchdown against the Northern Illinois Huskies during an NCAA football game at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Huskies won the game 48-34. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Devante Davis had a streaky senior year for the UNLV Rebels, to say the least. Davis either played a huge role for his team or he would practically disappear. On top of that, Davis missed five games during his senior year due to a wrist injury.

Strengths: Devante Davis is a big bodied receiver, measuring in at 6’3″ and 220 lbs and as you might imagine he plays a very physical brand of football. Davis uses his hands well during his routes to create some separation and put defensive backs into bad spots while trying to cover him.

Davis has a large catch radius, making himself an even bigger target for his quarterback to throw too, and he rarely ever loses his concentration during the process of the catch.

Fast forward to 2:55 to watch Davis display his large catch radius

Along with his huge catch radius, Davis can make very acrobatic catches. Davis tracks the ball very well in the air and is able to make late adjustment on under thrown balls, which happened a good amount of the time due to the less than stellar quarterback play by UNLV’s Blake Decker.

Overall, Davis is a very athletic and big receiver who makes himself an even bigger target due to his receiving abilities.

Weaknesses: Probably Davis’s biggest deterrent is speed, or should I say lack there of. Davis lacks the speed most teams look for in outside guys and there are questions about his ability to create enough separation at the next level and the few times he did create separation, Davis had to deal with a poorly thrown ball, and, more often than not, and under thrown ball.

Davis is fairly slow in-and-out of his breaks as well and he trouble when he was matched against athletic, press corners. When looking at his splits on ESPN, Davis seemed to disappear late in games. Davis caught 73.5% of his reception in the first half of games this year, which means either he ran out of energy in the second half or teams were able to consistently make the right adjustments at half time to take him out of the game. Neither of those situations will flatter any NFL scout and it will definitely raise some eyebrows amongst NFL coaches and scouts.

Aug 29, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; UNLV Rebels wide receiver Devonte Boyd (83) and wide receiver Devante Davis (81) shake hands after a play during the second quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Highlights and Awards: School record for receptions in a bowl game (10), Caught 1 pass in each of his final 34 college games, Second all-time in UNLV history in receiving yards (2,785), Fourth all-time in UNLV history in receptions (186)

Pro Comparison: Riley Cooper

Draft Outlook: Due his lack of ability to create consistent separation and down production in 2014, Davis will most likely fall in the draft to day three, projecting as a 6th or 7th round pick.