2020 NFL Draft Profile: Nebraska Defensive Lineman Carlos Davis

Carlos Davis, like his brother Khalil, was recruited to Nebraska by Bo Pelini. When Bo was fired and Mike Riley hired, keeping the Davis twins in the fold was one of Riley’s first recruiting wins.

I mention their recruiting purely to find an excuse to post this:

In the final year of the Riley regime, Bob Diaco was hired as defensive coordinator (commence much wailing and gnashing of teeth) and shifted the Blackshirts from a 4-3 to a 3-4 front. The churn in schemes and constant churn in coaches always made me wonder what the twins would have developed into if they had continuity.

Carlos emerged as a starting end as a senior. He is projected more as a tackle for the NFL and he certainly has the size (300+ lbs) to do that. He is athletic. In addition to his football contributions to Nebraska, he was also a four-year letterwinner in track and field, earning All-American honors in the discus two years in a row.

From His Huskers.com Bio

In his senior year, he amassed 32 tackles, the most of any defensive lineman for the Huskers. He also notched four sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

• Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2018, Coaches)
• 2016 Nebraska Most Improved Player
• Honorable-Mention BTN All-Freshman Team (2016)
• NCAA Track & Field Second-Team All-American (2019, Discus)
• NCAA Track & Field Honorable-Mention All-American (2018, Discus)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2017; Spring 2018)
• Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2016, 2017, 2018)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2016, 2017, 2018)

Combine Test Results and NFL Prospects

Height: 6-2

Weight: 313

Arm: 32

40 Time: 4.82. This was the third fastest time by an interior lineman at the NFL Combine and one of the six fastest by a man over 300 lbs for 20-ish years.

20 Yard Shuttle: 4.52

Projected Round (2020): 5-7 (Walter Football), priority free agent (NFL.com)

Despite his athleticism and fast 40 time, the draft profiles seem to point toward a very late draft position or free agent slot for Carlos. This is also a very very deep draft class at defensive line, but many teams are flying blind on late round prospects (since so many Pro Days were cancelled) so perhaps GMs will look at Carlos as a known quantity and pick him over others they were not able to evaluate in person.

He posted a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 8.63 out of 10, which is a very good score.

From Lance Zierlein - He’s not a plus run defender and offers no value as a rusher, so finding a fit will be tough.

From Walter Football - He had a fast 40 at the combine to help himself, but team sources say the tape is not impressive.

So, Your Team Drafted Him - What Are You Getting?

Carlos Davis has been a four-year contributor on the Husker defensive line, leading all linemen in tackles his senior season. He is athletic and has shown a fair amount of leadership. He is well-respected by teammates.

While some of the comments in draft profiles seem fairly bullish on Carlos’ potential as an NFL defender, it can be hard to evaluate a player who had so many different coaches and schemes. Add to that, he was playing defensive end when he is more likely a tackle at the next level and it is hard to guess how he might develop in the league.

He is not as strong a candidate for the NFL as his brother Khalil, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he exceeded the expectations of draft analysts.