We are skipping ahead to a recruit that is currently uncommitted for two reasons: 1) Davis will announce his decision on Friday, and 2) Florida is in a great position at the moment.
Name: Noor Davis
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6’4"
Weight: 225
High School: The Villages (The Villages, FL)
Status: Will announce his decision on Friday, May 13
Other Schools in Play: Notre Dame; has also mentioned Alabama, Stanford, USC
During many of the clips you will see of Davis, you will notice him lining up just outside of the defensive end. Although a linebacker, it is not rare to see him right at the line attempting to read the play before the snap. On many occasions this results in Davis ending up in the backfield very quickly, which brings up the question WHY IS NO ONE ATTEMPTING TO BLOCK HIM?!? Sorry, but sometimes it amazes me. This does not take away from Davis’s ability, but does make it even easier for someone with his talent to disrupt an offense.
Although he blitzes a lot, he is rarely caught making the wrong decision. Davis has great field vision and is able to read a handoff and quickly change his path of attack. You will rarely see him overrun a ball carrier in the backfield. Davis does not typically fall for play fakes. On several occasions he is in the quarterback’s face before the passer has a chance to go through his reads. In the event of a rollout or handoff, Davis’s closing speed serves him well and allows him to chase down those you would expect to be faster than him. Davis is one of those players where 40-time does not matter. In fact, you can pretty much ignore it. His field speed is all that matters and it is impressive for someone of his size. They play on opposite sides of the ball, but a good comparison here is Percy Harvin. You could have told me Harvin ran a 4.2 and I would have believed you. You could have told me he ran a 5.2 and I would not have cared. The point was that in pads, on the field Harvin was the fastest player out there. A 40-time will only tell you so much. What a player actually does on the field tells you much more, and Davis has that type of speed.
What may impress you the most about Davis is his intelligence when it comes to reading a play. We are only watching a few highlights here, but it is almost as if he can sense when it is going to be a run or a pass and where the ball will end up. Almost as if he knows the running back is going to pop out to the flat so he better cover him. This is the type of player you want coming to your program. Many players get by in high school on raw athletic ability. They are just that much better than everyone else on the field so they go hard and their harder is that much more than the other 21 players. They succeed just based on natural ability. While Davis obviously has that ability, he also has a sense for the game and the plays as they unfold. You can see him make a step in the right direction before the play fully develops. He is reacting to the offense before anyone else on the field does. This will make the transition to the next level much smoother for him.
Davis looks like he is ready to play college football today. He possesses good size, great field speed, and an understanding for the game. He is a polished tackler and appears to be able to become a valuable pass rusher. Any school in the race for him will not want to miss out.
Davis had initially indicated he would announce his decision at the Under Armour All-American Game, but has accelerated his plans and will declare this Friday. Although he put Alabama, Stanford, and USC in his final five, many expect it to be down to Florida and Notre Dame. To read more about his decision, check out Alligator Army's post from earlier on Wednesday.