Which Seahawks UDFA has best chance to shine?
May 1, 2019, 11:09 AM
The Seahawks have reportedly added UDFA CB Davante Davis. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks open their 2019 rookie minicamp Friday, and in addition to their 11 NFL Draft picks, the team will also host several undrafted rookie free agents.
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Among those linked to the Seahawks have been Northwestern State wide receiver Jazz Ferguson, Arizona State safety Jalen Harvey, Ohio State offensive lineman Demetrius Knox, Citadel linebacker Noah Dawkins, and Texas cornerback Davante Davis. Off all these names, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard believes Davis has the best shot to shine at camp.
“He was a combine invite,” Huard said. “And when you’re a combine invite, you usually have a pretty good chance of being one of the 254 players selected in the draft. That’s the first little filter you go through. You don’t have to be invited to be drafted. It happens; but it’s a rarity. Bobby Wagner is a real rarity to be a second-round pick who was not invited to the combine.”
In four years at Texas, Davis (6-feet-2, 202 pounds) had 91 tackles, 17 passes defended and three interceptions. He was projected as a priority free agent.
“Davis started as a true freshman, by the way,” Huard added. “He started nine games for the Longhorns in 2015. There were some coaching changes; he’s had three different secondary coaches. And he just never found his footing. I (called) a game of his and thought, ‘Man, that is a good-looking player right there.’ But he doesn’t have the ideal length. With less than 32 inch arms, that’s a check against for the Seahawks. And he ran 4.57 40-yard dash at the combine. If you’re a bigger corner and you run in the high 4.5’s, you’re going to find yourself out of the first, second and third rounds. And then, ultimately, there was just not enough play-making, not enough ball-hawking. You look at him and you want to say, ‘Take that next step.’ But unfortunately for Davante, that never happened in Austin, and thus he’s undrafted.
“But I think he comes to a perfect place. Seattle did not draft an outside corner and they don’t have a ton of depth there. You’ve got good players, but you’ve got no greatness at the position. And if you’re Davante Davis and you’ve got your pick of teams, which he did, I think he picked the perfect team to come to.”
Davis isn’t the only Texas player to come to Seattle as an undrafted rookie free agent. Second-year defensive tackle Poona Ford joined Seattle’s rookie camp as an undrafted rookie in 2018 and ended up making the 53-man roster.
