Growing up in Los Angeles county, Wyatt Davis and his family are no strangers to the spotlight. Wyatt’s grandfather, Willie Davis, was a Hall of Fame defensive end who played for the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns. His father, Duane, is an actor known for playing the role of linebacker Alvin Mack in the 1993 film The Program. Widely considered the No. 1 guard prospect in the nation, Wyatt Davis quickly garnered the attention of scouts across the country and received offers from big-name programs, including Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Stanford, Oregon, USC, and UCLA.
Now in his second year with the Minnesota Vikings, the spotlight on Wyatt Davis couldn’t be any dimmer. The Vikings have listed Davis as a third-string guard on their unofficial depth chart, and there’s a real chance that he may not even make the team. So how did he go from being a five-star recruit and a projected second-round pick to potentially not even making Minnesota’s final 53-man roster?
Davis committed to Ohio State despite receiving offers from high-level programs on the west coast. He redshirted during his true freshman season in 2017. Davis didn’t make his debut until late in 2018 when starting right guard Demetrius Knox suffered a season-ending injury against Michigan. Davis impressed on short notice, and in 2019 he became the team’s starting right guard.
As a redshirt sophomore, Davis was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference and a first-team All-American by the Associated Press and the Sporting News. In 2020, his final year with the Buckeyes, he received unprecedented honors. He became the first guard in Ohio State history to win the Rimington-Pace award and was unanimously named first-team All-American.
In short, Davis was a highly gifted and heavily recruited athlete. He came from a football family and received many accolades during his time in Columbus. He fit the description of a player who teams would draft early, and it’s easy to see why Rick Spielman went rogue and selected him.
However, a couple of things caused his draft stock to fall during the pre-draft process. The first is his injury history at Ohio State. During the pre-draft process, Davis recovered from a nagging left knee injury he sustained in the fourth game of the season against Indiana.
Davis played through the injury until the National Championship Game against Alabama, where he aggravated the same knee. Although Davis’ knee was “perfectly fine” for his pro day, the recurring leg injury was cause for concern. Other things scouts worried about were play recognition, body control, and his footwork. For an offensive lineman, all three traits are important, and having those particular weaknesses would affect his pro career.
When the Vikings drafted Davis in the third round, pundits thought he would immediately come in and compete for the starting spot at right guard against Dakota Dozier. Yet, Davis was stuck at the bottom of the depth chart. There were three reasons why Davis couldn’t cement himself as a starter.
- First, he wasn’t the most pro-ready player to begin with. Davis said in a pre-draft interview that he needed to work on basic techniques and become a better student of the game. That indicated he was more of a developmental prospect than a player who could immediately step in and compete.
- Then he showed up to training camp out of shape. Because of this, Davis likely didn’t have the trust of the coaching staff. There was no path for Davis to become a starter unless someone got hurt.
- On top of all that, Davis was dealing with an ankle injury throughout training camp and the regular season, which affected his availability.
When the Vikings fired Zimmer and replaced him with O’Connell, Davis appeared on Patrick Peterson‘s podcast earlier in the offseason to talk about the change. He seemed excited to be playing under a new coaching staff.
“I’m excited to get to know (O’Connell),” Davis said. “With all the changes that have been made, obviously, it was done for a reason to help propel us and take that next step this upcoming season. So I’m looking forward to being able to meet him and get to work with him.”
Perhaps he thought that the new coaching staff would help salvage a rocky start to his career, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Vikings added four interior offensive linemen this offseason – Jesse Davis, Chris Reed, Ed Ingram, and Austin Schlottmann. In particular, the Vikings’ selection of Ingram shows that the coaching staff has prioritized pass-protectors along the offensive line. With Davis being more of a mauler in the run game, his style of play may not fit the new offense as well compared to the run-first Kubiak system.
Growing up in Los Angeles and surrounded by football legends, Wyatt Davis thrived in the spotlight. The nation’s No. 1-ranked high school guard prospect dazzled scouts with his athletic ability and continued to dominate throughout his college career. Yet his lack of technical ability and pro-readiness combined with a series of nagging leg injuries has created bad publicity for him. In just his second year in Minnesota, Wyatt Davis’ time with the Vikings may already be coming to an end.
