Marcus Davenport 6'5 250 lbs DE

[NorFlaFin]

If I remember right the story on Jason Taylor was ungodly strong but could not gain weight and most team's were scared off thinking he would not hold up.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

What I find so unique about Davenport as opposed to other players that are big and talented is that his violence level, his effort level, are really compelling. That's the difference between him and an Arden Key. I watch them both and I don't know how I could take Arden Key over Marcus Davenport. I wouldn't. Plain and simple.

That's not answering your run defense question per se, but when you have his size and athleticism, and you note that he's also a high effort, violent player, that pretty much tells you what you need to know.

I'm high on Chubb and Davenport, because the league has tended to counter athletic QB's and modern packages by bull rushing their DE's or 3-4 OLB's on base downs, and sometimes on 3rd down, without giving them much freedom to deviate from their path/gap. Recent DE's who have outperformed their draft positions (be it character or other) include guys like Justin Houston, Chandler Jones, Frank Clark, Danielle Hunter, Cameron Jordan, DeMarcus Lawrence, Yannick Ngakoue, and Emmanuel Ogbah. These are some of the longest DE's/3-4 OLB's in the league, with the exception of Lawrence (still long) and Ngakoue, and they all win with their hands, which allows them to produce significant plays on base downs. They don't need to deviate from their path (or even the threat of it) to win against OT's. Some of the other top guys (most drafted at appropriate value) have shorter arms but combine exceptional strength, athleticism, and skill - thinking Mack, Bosa, Griffen, Kerrigan, and Ingram, etc. If you're not one of these guys, you have to be a Clay Matthews, Von Miller or Bud Dupree, play LB about as well as you rush the passer.

Chubb and Davenport fit these models. Chubb reminds me of Jared Allen and Joey Bosa, and Davenport reminds me of Aldon Smith and Chandler Jones, but I also see the Jason Taylor comp. I think you're exactly right about his effort and violence making him an excellent run defender in the NFL. He looks like a guy who is just scratching the surface of what he can be, and he's already very good. Outside of Mayfield (don't think Chubb is going?), Davenport is my top player at the Senior Bowl, and I expect that most people will have him in the top 10 by the end of SB weekend.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I'm high on Chubb and Davenport, because the league has tended to counter athletic QB's and modern packages by bull rushing their DE's or 3-4 OLB's on base downs, and sometimes on 3rd down, without giving them much freedom to deviate from their path/gap. Recent DE's who have outperformed their draft positions (be it character or other) include guys like Justin Houston, Chandler Jones, Frank Clark, Danielle Hunter, Cameron Jordan, DeMarcus Lawrence, Yannick Ngakoue, and Emmanuel Ogbah. These are some of the longest DE's/3-4 OLB's in the league, with the exception of Lawrence (still long) and Ngakoue, and they all win with their hands, which allows them to produce significant plays on base downs. They don't need to deviate from their path (or even the threat of it) to win against OT's. Some of the other top guys (most drafted at appropriate value) have shorter arms but combine exceptional strength, athleticism, and skill - thinking Mack, Bosa, Griffen, Kerrigan, and Ingram, etc. If you're not one of these guys, you have to be a Clay Matthews, Von Miller or Bud Dupree, play LB about as well as you rush the passer.

Chubb and Davenport fit these models. Chubb reminds me of Jared Allen and Joey Bosa, and Davenport reminds me of Aldon Smith and Chandler Jones, but I also see the Jason Taylor comp. I think you're exactly right about his effort and violence making him an excellent run defender in the NFL. He looks like a guy who is just scratching the surface of what he can be, and he's already very good. Outside of Mayfield (don't think Chubb is going?), Davenport is my top player at the Senior Bowl, and I expect that most people will have him in the top 10 by the end of SB weekend.

Well, you make some good points J-Off.

People have to realize that good run fits come down to two key components....maintaining leverage on the football, and gap integrity. That's what it boils down to. Run defense is very much a unit specific achievement, much like offensive line play. If one guy doesn't do his job, it can result in a big play.

You have to know what a guy's individual responsibilities are in a given scheme in order to determine the quality of his run defense. That said, Davenport should have no issue playing run defense at the next level, for the reasons you illustrated. The physical talent and length is what will allow him to maintain leverage on the football.

Gap integrity is more of the unit specific achievement that I mentioned previously. Different fronts (spill, contain, etc.) ask for different things in terms of gap integrity. I remember watching Jason Taylor get upfield to get after the quarterback only to see the handoff to the runningback go right by where Taylor was just at for huge gains more times than I care to count. It's because there was no linebacker there to fill in that gap Taylor had just vacated. Poor run fits. No gap integrity. The linebacker didn't do his job.

If every player will just do their job and not try to do somebody else's, sound run fits are typically the result. Guys are where they're supposed to be. Then it's just a matter of making the tackle.

 

[TraderJoe]

I’ll trust in our resident gurus like CK & Slimm but that A&M video wasn’t very impressive to me.

For somebody his size he gets pushed backwards easily and who he hits falls forward a lot. He was below average at making the read and allowed the QB outside nearly every time.

He doesn’t stop hustling, takes good angles, and looked fluid dropping into coverage.

 

[ckparrothead]

To expand on j-off's point here about lane discipline in pass rush, something you're actually seeing happen more often nowadays is defenses using hulks like Ndamukong Suh out on the wings to execute that bull rush, while taking the lengthy, mobile guys and having them free rush the guards over the middle.

Watch how LB Lorenzo Alexander is used by the Bills some time. There are others like that out there. Miami is doing a lot of those types of things. Hell, UTSA does it with Marcus Davenport and it's one of the things that make him attractive.