BROCK AND SALK
Could ‘unique’ DT Jordan Davis be an option for Seahawks in 1st round?
With the 2022 NFL Draft fast approaching, there’s been a lot of discussion regarding what the biggest needs are for the Seahawks and what they may do with the No. 9 overall pick.
Seahawks Draft Primer: Everything you need to know about Seattle, top prospects
One position group many are hoping Seattle addresses early in the draft? Edge rushers. Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux and Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson are two players commonly seen going to the Seahawks in mock drafts.
But what if the Seahawks address the defensive line in the first round in a different way?
One interior defender who shot up draft boards during the 2021 college football season and this offseason is Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
Davis, a unanimous All-American in 2021, is a mountain of a man at 6 foot 6 and 340 pounds. But he’s also arguably the freakiest athlete in this year’s draft class as he ran a 4.78 second 40-yard dash, posted a 32-inch vertical leap and broad jumped 10 feet 2 inches at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Still in awe of Jordan Davis' Combine performance. 😲 @jordanxdavis99 | @GeorgiaFootball #NFLCombine continues at 10:30am on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/pyspmkeU9T
— NFL (@NFL) March 6, 2022
“Dude is unique,” former NFL quarterback and current FOX Sports college football analyst Brock Huard told Mike Salk on Seattle Sports 710 AM Tuesday morning.
Salk wasn’t quite sold on the idea of the Seahawks adding an interior defensive lineman early in the draft, so Huard did his best to sell his Brock & Salk Podcast co-host.
“Well, do you want Haloti Ngata? I mean a guy (who played) for 10 years in this league?” Huard asked.
Ngata was an All-American at Oregon before going 12th overall to the Baltimore Ravens in the 2006 NFL Draft. He not only won a Super Bowl, but was a five-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler.
Ngata had a stellar performance at the combine, running 5.13 seconds in the 40 at 6 foot 4 and 338 pounds and jumped 31.5 inches in the vertical leap. His broad jump, though, was a full foot shorter than the mark Davis posted.
Salk questioned the need for a run-stuffer so early in the draft, but Huard said Davis can do much more than stopping the run.
“Right there right now at Georgia, (his job was to) just stop the run because they’ve got other guys that can rush the passer,” Huard said. “But you’re 6-6 and 350 (pounds) and run a 4.78 (second 40-yard dash). I mean, seriously, if they take him — which I’ve thought about him —Â I’ve thought of Pete Carroll.”
Huard can see Carroll speaking glowingly of Davis similarly to how he speaks of All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who regularly wreaks havoc against the Seahawks as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
“It’s not once, not twice, it’s 50 to 100 times that (Carroll) has said to Mike Salk, ‘Now, Mike, how many 280-pound men run a 4.5 40? OK? No. 99 for the Rams, those don’t exist,'” Huard said. “I can’t even imagine what Pete Carroll will say about a 6-6, 350-pound man, Mike, running for 4.7. ‘Now Mike, 6-6, 350 doesn’t exist in real life. That doesn’t exist.’ But it does. And oh, by the way, that guy moves laterally and with agility.”
Huard referred to another All-Pro defensive tackle when looking at Davis, who he said can be a disruptive force.
“What has (Philadelphia Eagles star) Fletcher Cox done in this league?” he asked.
Listen to the full second hour of Tuesday’s Mike Salk Show at this link or in the player below.
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