First-round hopeful Jamin Davis posts impressive marks at UK’s NFL Pro Day
Linebacker Jamin Davis has emerged as the flag-bearer for Kentucky’s 2021 class of draftees. A junior who started only one game prior to last season, Davis now is projected by many as a first-round selection in April’s NFL Draft.
He doesn’t put much stock in draft projections, and says he isn’t sure what changed between the end of UK’s season — when, after he declared, most mock drafts had him going anywhere from the third through sixth rounds — and now.
“Honestly, I’m guessing people are just starting to wake up just a little bit,” Davis said, grinning, during a Tuesday Zoom session with reporters ahead of UK’s Pro Day on Wednesday. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’m not doing anything special, I’m not pulling out any hat tricks or anything. I’m just being myself.”
Davis posted a 42-inch vertical jump, matching the highest mark posted by a linebacker and the second-highest vertical posted by any player at last year’s NFL Combine. He ran a 4.41 in his first attempt at the 40-yard dash, which would have been the second-fastest among linebackers in 2020 and among the top-15 times overall. His unofficial time on his second attempt, 4.37, would have ranked in the top five.
His broad jump (132 inches) also would have ranked among the top-15 marks posted at last year’s event. Davis’ perceived athleticism has been a factor cited by the analysts moving him up their boards; he affirmed that belief on Wednesday.
Davis doesn’t plan on attending this year’s draft, set to take place in Cleveland, Ohio. When he’s imagined getting drafted in the past, he always dreamed of being in the living room with his family.
“I never really wanted to be a guy that was all dressed up in a fancy suit walking across a stage, especially knowing that I’m not a guy that’s really one of them anyway,” Davis said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 12:40 PM.
