DEBATE: Is Vontae Davis living up to his draft status? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

DEBATE: Is Vontae Davis living up to his draft status?

BGtoKNfor6

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Let me preface this with the fact that I personally think that a huge downfall to this F.O. is the expectations that are placed on players to perform immediately out of the gate just because of where they are drafted (NFL norm however). I think that we do a horrible job of scouting and drafting and we may draft guys ahead of where they normally should be taken. As such they are expected to perform up to levels that they may not be capable of.

I am not going to rehash Henne or even bring up the expectations on Daniel Thomas. That leads me to Vontae Davis.

Now forget his "potential". Many players have immense potential that is never discovered or tapped in to because of piss poor coaching. I think another huge problem of this regime is that players with talent are never allowed to develop properly (i.e. Merling, Langford, Henne, Ginn, etc). I am not alluding to theres guys being HOF or even perennial pro-bowlers, but rather coaches realizing their potential in areas and molding that craft to fit their respective schemes. Belichick does this masterfully and well, how many superbowls does he have?

When it comes to cornerbacks, I expect them to not only be able to cover a guy but also hone their game to be a tackler and become a guy that is hungry for the ball. Personally, Davis can tackle but he does in a way that is reckless IMO. He wants to lay the wood on a guy and I think that may be what causes him to have to leave games because of injury. I don't see a guy that is hungry for the ball. Except for a few interceptions, the guy is just not living up to what his supposed talent level was. Kind of reminds me of his brother a bit before the light bulb turned on in SF. However I remember Davis being absolutely trashed on the sidelines by a pissed off Mike Singletary on national tv (IIRC) and that appeared to light a fire under his ***.

Many will argue that Davis keeps other start wideouts from getting the ball. That may be the case in some games but I also see him getting beat and missing tackles at times because he wants to lay the lumber to someone. Where are his interceptions and just overall presence that a good qb has that leads to turnovers and top notch plays. I am just not seeing it in Davis, yet. However, he has been in the league what 3 years thus far? It's about time he turns on the ball hawking skills and become a complete player.

So what do you guys think. Keep your home emotions aside and how he is your "favorite" player for whatever reason. I am just asking that to date what is your opinion of the kid and is he living up to the billing?

I don't think he is at all. Leave Smith, Carroll and Jones out of this one. That is another bust thread for another day.
 
Vontae has had a very rough start to this season. That doesn't erase his past couple years though. I still think he's one of the better corners in the league.
 
Vontae has had a very rough start to this season. That doesn't erase his past couple years though. I still think he's one of the better corners in the league.

What exactly has he done the past couple of years? Besides the two picks on Brady awhile back, what has Vontae done to change the course of a game in the favor of the Dolphins. Is it the fact that teams can rotate their star wideouts and Vontae has no help or is Vontae not a game changing corner?
 
Vontae Davis NEEDS to be pushed, developed etc. This Regime has falled to do so far, the guy has all the talent in the world to be a great CB. He needs to put more effort into his game, he seems to be a bit like he's brother in that sense.
 
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I'd rather have Mathews or Nicks, but I'm not unhappy that we chose him. I think Vontae's only problems are symptomatic of deeper issues with the team.
 
I have been saying it for the last two years..Vontae is not that good..Teams generally dont throw at him but thats because they know the rest of our team is weaker...He is maybe the best Db in the secondary but its not saying much...Vontae gets burned in spots has lapses missed plenty of tackles last year as well..Not living up to his potential not giving it all on each and every play..That was the knock on him coming out of college...Looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane..He is just a body builder with great speed who puts on a helmet and pads..He has no football IQ. When the ball is in the air he never turns and tracks it..Forces Miami often to be playing off zone coverage.
 
No! He ****ing sucks and I mean sucks! Blown up to hero status in these parts! Both games this year and several last year he gave up big plays! Elite cbs don't do that weekly! Another draft reach by our clueless FO he should be Hakeem Nicks!
 
Vontae Davis has the PHYSICAL tools (athletic ability, speed and strength) to be one of the top 3 cornerbacks in this league... but he's immature.

I think he's a good kid, but he has that gene.... the same one his brother had until Mike Singletary humiliated him. Vontae Davis thinks once somebody writes an article about how good he is, that's it.

Getting "there" isn't the hard part, STAYING there and being consistent is what requires dedication.

You'll watch him in game like yesterday where he never misses a tackle... looks like Ty Law when it comes to tackling. Then you'll see him the very next week lunging, whiffing tackles, bad technique, and getting sloppy.

He's good for getting burned deep at least once a game. Vontae is no stranger to lack of effort and coasting... which is why Zook benched him at Illinois.


Vontae Davis needs to grow up... he needs to mature... NOW. There's absolutely no reason why a guy with his incredible physical gifts should be as undependable as he is.


He can still be a good one, but I think he's tuned Sparano out.


He needs to Show up. Shut up. And Keep up. If he doesn't figure that out soon, he has no shot to live up to his draft status.
 
The problem is with fans evaluating CB is that you cant look at their stats. If he's a good/great CB no one will throw his way which will means he has low tackle numbers/pass def/int. With that being said, i think Vontae is making progress, he's not top 5 but i'd say he's top 10 corner in the league. Is he living up to his draft status??? I'd say so.
 
Vontae Davis has the PHYSICAL tools (athletic ability, speed and strength) to be one of the top 3 cornerbacks in this league... but he's immature.

I think he's a good kid, but he has that gene.... the same one his brother had until Mike Singletary humiliated him. Vontae Davis thinks once somebody writes an article about how he is, that's it.

Getting "there" isn't the hard part, STAYING there and being consistent is what requires dedication.

You'll watch him in game like yesterday where he never misses a tackle... looks like Ty Law when it comes to tackling. Then you'll see him the very next week lunging, whiffing tackles, bad technique, and getting sloppy.

He's good for getting burned deep at least once a game. Vontae is no stranger to lack of effort and coasting... which is why Zook benched him at Illinois.


Vontae Davis needs to grow up... he needs to mature... NOW. There's absolutely no reason why a guy with his incredible physical gifts should be as undependable as he is.


He can still be a good one, but I think he's tuned Sparano out.


He needs to Show up. Shut up. And Keep up. If he doesn't figure that out soon, he has no shot to live up to his draft status.

Maybe if he shut his fat mouth he wouldn't cramp!
 
I don't think Vontae is living up to his 1st round draft status. It's obvious the guy CAN be excellent. But it should also be obvious that Sean Smith has been better.
 
Nope...I said we should draft this guy in the 1st before we ever picked him. I though both he and Jenkins were reaches in the first. When we got to 22...there was a guy playing OLB for GB now that was just sitting there...that is who I thought we should take that day....

Could you imagine the Matthews/Wake combination???
 
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