Knile

Davis

At Arkansas last season, Davis had seven fumbles on 112 carries. Chiefs coaches are teaching him to hold the ball high and tight. “It’s fixed,” said Davis. “I think I’ll never fumble again. ... It’s not really that big of a deal. I had two bad games last year where I fumbled a lot. It was just me not focusing on it.” Davis is competing to be Jamaal Charles’ primary backup and handcuff.

A chronic fumbler at Arkansas, Davis is being taught by RBs coach Eric Bienemy to hold the ball “high and tight” at rookie minicamp. “He just needs to play in order to work his way through that,” Reid said. “I thought he needed to work his way through that and then you’d have a pretty good football player.” The Chiefs hope Davis will win the primary backup job behind Jamaal Charles.

Of all the running backs we studied on game tape before the draft, none was less impressive than Davis, whom we likened to a less ball-secure version of Jackie Battle and poor man’s Shonn Greene. Despite eye-popping Combine measurables, Davis lacks explosive running and cutting ability and was a chronic fumbler at Arkansas. He’s someone to avoid in Dynasty rookie drafts.

The “Speed Score” uses a mathematical formula in an attempt to measure speed given size. Speed Score has plenty of historical flaws, but has accurately predicted busts like Knowshon Moreno while forecasting Chris Johnson and Brandon Jacobs’ success. The all-time leader in “Speed Score” is current Broncos RB Mario Fannin (125.5), who went undrafted out of Auburn and has done nothing in the NFL. Nevertheless, Davis has a special speed-size combination and will be a mid- to late-round pick to monitor in the 2013 preseason.

Much like the rest of Arkansas’ offensive skill-position players, Davis was highly productive in 2011 before falling off the map last year, primarily due to injuries and landing in the coaching staff’s doghouse. Davis is a rocked-up 227 pounds, though, and moving as fast as he did in the forty is uncommon. He’s now a candidate to rise up draft boards, even if he doesn’t play that fast.

We’ve studied Davis’ 2010 (not very good) and 2012 (even worse) tape, and feel the same. Davis doesn’t run with burst or power. “He’s so soft and timid,” said the scout. “I’ve never seen a guy fumble like him where people just breathe on him and he drops the ball. Doesn’t play to that timed speed at all. You think injuries have taken their toll, but he can still run fast so it’s nothing to do with injury. On the field he just doesn’t have it.”

Davis (5-foot-11 3/8, 227) put up big stats in Bobby Petrino’s high-scoring 2010 offense, but missed all of 2011 with a fractured ankle and returned in 2012 to rush 112 times for 377 yards (3.37 YPC) and two touchdowns. He made 32 career receptions. We went back to check Davis’ 2010 tape and were thoroughly unimpressed. Davis is a straight-ahead plodder with zero lateral movement and clumsy feet. He lacks quick-twitch athleticism and has the power of a scatback. He’s like a softer, less ball-secure Jackie Battle. Overdrafted based on straight-line forty time (4.37), Davis is quite likely to disappoint in the pros. He’ll compete with Shaun Draughn for carries behind Jamaal Charles.

Davis subbed in for a gassed Jamaal Charles in the second and fourth quarters. Davis made a nice cutback for a 12-yard gain on his fist carry on the night, but mostly looked concerned with not fumbling the football. Jamaal Charles’ handcuff has just 11 touches through three games.

Even with the Chiefs blowing out the Giants in the fourth quarter, Jamaal Charles never came off the field. Davis is on pace for just 44 carries and four catches in his rookie year, numbers that will prove accurate if Charles sustains health. Davis is just a middling handcuff.

Davis’ fumble was soft, but he redeemed himself just moments later with a 109-yard kick-return touchdown. Nevertheless, the cough up was an ominous sign for the KnownFumbler™ heading into the regular season. Locked in as Jamaal Charles’ backup, the talented but inconsistent rookie has 20 carries for only 56 yards (2.8 YPC) through three preseason games.