The NY Jets could have landed them a steal in the 2020 NFL Draft with safety Ashtyn Davis.
The NY Jets first offseason with Joe Douglas at the helm has seen a lot of new faces join Gang Green, but there may not be a single player on the team that will turn into a bigger steal than Ashtyn Davis.
The Jets took Davis with the 68th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the fourth pick in the third round. The safety out of Cal may be the biggest steal of the entire draft as he will add a ton of value to a young Jets team for a Day 2 pick.
Davis can be a swiss army knife for the Jets this year as he has the versatility produce not only on the defensive side of the ball, but on special teams as well. Listed primarily as a safety, Davis can also add value as a cornerback and as a returner.
Before going into what he did in college that made Davis such an effective player, it is worth noting why someone with his skillset will add such value to the Jets.
Starting with the style of play that the Jets will look to play with this year, despite being led by an offensive-minded head coach, Gang Green will once again rely on their strong defense.
He will add depth to a Jets secondary that has some really strong points, as well as some weaker ones. Safety is obviously a position of strength, headlined by two-time Pro Bowler Jamal Adams, and backed by Marcus Maye.
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Davis will add some much-needed depth at this position.
Ashtyn Davis provides some essential depth for the NY Jets.
This is important for many reasons. The first is that there is always the possibility of injury so having a solid option as a backup is always a positive.
Secondly, should Jamal Adams be traded instead of signing a contract extension, the new addition to the team would most likely be expected to step into the starting lineup.
Moving now to cornerback, another position Davis can be productive. The Jets have added depth at corner this offseason, however, there is still a big hole at this position as the Jets are still without a lockdown cornerback.
While Davis probably won’t provide this, he can still be productive and eat up some snaps for Gregg Williams’ defense.
Finally the thing that will make Davis the biggest steal and the most underrated, his ability in the return game. The Jets are a team that will most likely rely on defense and field-positioning in order to win games this year. Field positioning all starts with the return game.
Davis is an effective returner and can give the Jets offense plus field position, providing the Sam Darnold-led offense with better opportunities to move the ball effectively. This will be important as the offense still has many question marks in the lineup.
To wrap up, Davis has shown his skills on the stat sheet. In his three years of playing 10 or more games for Cal, Davis combined for 141 total tackles, seven interceptions, nine pass defenses, and three fumble recoveries. He also averaged over 20 yards per kick return in 70 attempts.
Davis will add depth and skill at multiple positions. Providing some spark for the Jets special teams and playmaking for the defense.
For a third-rounder, Davis will add tremendous value to this young Jets team, making him an extremely underrated draft pick.