Iowa’s Carl Davis makes push for first round

IOWA CITY - Defensive tackle Carl Davis boasts an envious frame that screams domination.

Davis wears his size - 6-foot-5, 321 pounds - in an imposing, yet athletic way. Over his five years at Iowa, he dropped around 40 pounds of youthful weight and built up 20 pounds of muscle. Davis worked into a starting role as a junior and opened 26 games as a Hawkeye.

With that size, questions swirl around Davis about his lack of tangible production. As a senior, he registered 36 tackles and two sacks. Those numbers are modest, especially for a potential first-round pick in Thursday's NFL draft.

At Iowa, defensive tackles like Davis often compile double teams, not statistics. His job was to tie up blockers. That was exhibited in 2013 when Iowa had three NFL linebackers in Christian Kirksey (third round), Anthony Hitchens (fourth round) and James Morris (free agent). Last year with an inexperienced linebacking corps, Davis' assets were less on display.

But Davis had a chance to change the narrative, and he did so at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Without the constraints of a team-based system, Davis was out to showcase himself. In drills he overpowered offensive linemen and showed a quick burst. NFL scouts were impressed and voted him the Defensive Practice Player of the Week Award.

'My job at Iowa was to be a double-team magnet and try to eat up space for our linebackers to make plays,” Davis said. 'At the Senior Bowl, it was more so about me. I was just more worried about myself and just kind of dominate. When I go out there it's me versus another man. It was more so one-on-one, and I felt like I could win one-on-one.

'I just really tried to go out there and show my ability. It really paid off for me. It was only a week of practice, but it was one-on-one situations. I just wanted to show the teams what I could do, and I made myself happy and everything worked out for me.”

As a senior at Iowa, Davis had nine tackles for loss and two blocked kicks. He recorded one tackle in the Senior Bowl.

'On tape at Iowa, he flashed. Here he did way more than that,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock told NFL.com the day of the Senior Bowl. 'He played every snap, he showed athleticism, an ability to push the pocket and get to the quarterback. He may have elevated himself right into the first round and that's what this game is all about.”

The Senior Bowl performance turned Davis into a hot prospect for the NFL Scouting Combine. He met formally with about 15 teams and had conversations with the rest. Among defensive linemen, Davis had the largest hands (11 inches) and fourth-largest arms (34 5/8 inches). Discussions ranged from staying at defensive tackle like in Iowa's 4-3 defense or moving to defensive end in a 3-4 alignment. Those conversations continue all the way up to the draft.

'He's going to be very valuable as a three-technique (defensive tackle) for one reason: because he's tall and angular and he gets his hands up,” said Dan Shonka, general manager and national scout for Ourlads Scouting Services. 'I think maybe his best position would be a 3-4 end, where he's got two gaps. He takes up space, protects your linebackers, keeps those linemen off the linebackers. He can extend and keep blocker off and at bay.

'I think end in a 3-4 would be his natural position and slide into a three-technique on passing downs. On first and second down, he can bat a lot of balls down.”

Davis has remained busy since participating at Iowa's pro day in mid-March. Within the last two weeks, he had visits with his hometown Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys. Detroit and Miami run a 4-3 base defense, while Dallas employs a 3-4. Draft projections for Davis range from late first round to early second round. Most of the teams that select in the late first round have a need at defensive line. Most draft projections range from late first round to early second round.

'Teams will tell you one thing, but you don't really know until draft day,” Davis said. 'That's one thing I've been told from the guys before me like Chris Kirksey and Anthony Hitchens. They say a team you think you might be going to, they might choose somebody else. It all depends on who's left on the board and what do they need. Hopefully, the teams that are talking to me now plan on drafting me, but if I know somebody out there is looking at me. Maybe they're just trying to stay under the radar and not let anybody know their draft plans. It's all good.”

Defensive end Adrian Clayborn was Iowa's last first-round defender in 2011. The Hawkeyes' last first-round defensive tackle was Alex Karras in 1958.

'Whatever takes to get on somebody's roster, make plays and be productive,” Davis said.

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