‘All business’: Jamin Davis reminds Jack Del Rio of Chase Young originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
This will be the second year that Jack Del Rio serves as Washington’s defensive coordinator, and it’ll also be the second year in which Del Rio’s had the pleasure of welcoming the franchise’s first-round draft choice onto his side of the ball.
And according to Del Rio, those two players — 2020 second-overall choice Chase Young and 2021 19th-overall pick Jamin Davis — share a very key quality.
Last summer, Young’s devoted approach to football was just as noticeable as his outlandish skill set. At training camp, he’d do push-ups after substandard reps (no one was asking or telling him to do so, by the way) and he’d also hit extra sprints after practice, among other things.
Now, while Davis hasn’t resorted to any sort of self-punishment (yet) during his time at Washington’s OTAs, he’s still made an impression on his new boss.
“Much like Chase, he’s been all business,” Del Rio said about Davis following Wednesday’s open-to-the-media session. “That’s what we’re seeing out of Jamin.
“He’s developing, learning the system and giving great effort every day while being a good teammate. These are all positive signs when getting started.”
If you’re looking for an interesting sign about the 19th overall selection, meanwhile, then consider this: He’s lined up at the middle linebacker spot in both of the public OTAs thus far, with Cole Holcomb and Jon Bostic flanking him.
That wasn’t necessarily the expectation for Davis when he was snapped up in late April, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where he’ll be for Week 1, either. However, the fact that the coaches are asking Davis to handle that responsibility, even if it’s just at this point of the calendar, speaks to what they think of his abilities.
Fortunately, Ron Rivera also literally spoke to Davis’ abilities on Wednesday, and like Del Rio, he’s enjoying the initial progress.
“He’s calling the huddles right now, he’s setting the front for us, he’s helping the checks,” Rivera said. “He’s learning that part. Every practice seems to be an improvement for him as far as that part of it.”
There’s still much for Davis to learn; he hasn’t had to fill a gap and tackle a running back yet, for example, and there are many different coverages he’ll need to master in order to be a difference-maker in the passing game, which would do wonders for the overall defense.
Those kinds of major hurdles, though, feel much less significant when the player being asked to clear them possesses a serious mindset — and Del Rio believes Davis already has that type of mentality.
“It starts with that person being somebody that’s made of the right stuff, and he certainly appears to be that,” Del Rio said.