Corey Davis

Corey Davis 

• #84 WR
• Senior
• Western Michigan Broncos
• Hometown: Wheaton, IL
• Height: 6-3
• Weight: 205 lbs.
• DOB: 1/11/95

Statistics:

• 2015: 90/1436/12
• 2014: 78/1408/15
• 2013: 67/941/6
• Career: 235/3785/33

Corey Davis is a very good prospect. He is a pretty safe bet as far as prospects go because he’s good at everything. He is 6’3” and very athletic for his size. He runs in the mid to low 4.4 range with good acceleration and shows the ability to hit another gear when needed. Good flexibility allows him to have solid agility to create easy separation. That burst really jumps off the tape on crossing routes where he’s able to outpace the defensive angle and gain the edge.

Davis decided to return to Western Michigan for his senior season. Western Michigan HC P.J. Fleck said that senior WR Corey Davis has added 10 pounds this offseason.

Fleck stated, "He’s quicker, more explosive. He has spent a ton of time just working on his craft, to get him better. He’s our best player but also our hardest worker." The coach called his star wideout "really the complete package." Last season, Davis notched 90 catches for 1,436 yards and 12 touchdowns. With Daniel Braverman heading to the Bears, Davis will be the focal point of Western Michigan's aerial attack in 2016 – Sports Illustrated

Davis has really worked at his game in the YAC area and as a result Western Michigan gave him more WR screens in 2015. He displays good vision to see the whole field for a big play and the burst to leave defenders grasping for air. He is an elite route runner for a college player. He has A good release at the line of scrimmage. He settles into an open zone (you can see this in the first video), and most importantly stems defenders at the top of his routes to create very good separation (second video) He is a smart route runner that already understands changing speeds and works his way back to the football. He is a technician and really dedicated time to getting better.

This is the tape from where he played Michigan State as a freshman in 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9FAyuFBu88 Notice that Michigan State has Darqueze Dennard (2014 Round 1 pick 24) shadowing Corey Davis across the field. At this point, Davis is still extremely raw but you can see that he is getting open. He drops a couple tough catches and there are a ton of really bad throws when he is wide open. You will also see he is versatile enough to lineup on the outside or in the slot and “win” versus the defense. Davis finished this game 8/96/1.

Now same opponent but 2 years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UIMSYwooXE This is the full game tape skip to when WMU is on offense if you don’t wish to watch the full 30 minutes. You can watch all the plays featuring Davis but I want to focus on 2 specific plays in this game. At 12:36 Davis separates on a go route that should be a touchdown but the ball is under thrown and he drops it on the adjustment coming back. Same play happens at 15:15. Davis separates the ball is under thrown this time he makes the adjustment and the catch. He also makes a spectacular catch at 23:56 while being held by the defender. Davis finished this game 10/154/1

I focused on these two plays because Corey has developed his hands and because as a freshman he used his body quite often which you could see in the first video. However, his sophomore and especially his junior seasons showed a more confident hands catcher who will adjust and go get the ball. Ultra-productive, Davis has finished in the top 10 of FBS WRs the last two seasons and showed up with a huge game against Michigan State. I don’t have any concerns with Corey Davis, he will be a WR2 or better in FF.

Overall, this is an elite prospect who should come off the board early in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He’s a well-rounded player who can take the top off a defense as well as run clean routes. Over the final 6 games of the 2015 regular season, Davis averaged 133.7 yards and 1 touchdown per game. He’ll be in the discussion to be the first receiver selected in next year’s draft.

NFL COMP: Somewhere between a Sammy Watkins and Amari Cooper.