Clemson Football: DT Tyler Davis doesn’t get enough credit
Freshman DT Tyler Davis has been a force in the interior of the defensive line for Clemson football. He doesn’t get near enough credit.
The Clemson football program lost two defensive tackles in Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence to the first-round of the NFL Draft following last season.
If that weren’t enough, the Tigers also lost a valuable backup DT in Albert Huggins to graduation. Now, Huggins is playing in the NFL, as well.
With all these losses, Clemson football was expected to take a significant step back along the defensive line, and especially at defensive tackle.
While Brent Venables has changed his scheme to help play to the Tigers’ strength in the secondary, it’s clear that the defensive tackles have done just fine to this point. One of the major reasons why is freshman Tyler Davis.
Davis stepped on campus in January and immediately stood out during spring practice. The true-freshman received starter reps with Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams sidelined with injuries during the sessions.
He continued to impress during the summer and through fall camp and earned a co-starter role to begin the 2019 Clemson football season.
As we progressed a few weeks through the season, Davis began to see more and more playing time and was listed as the lone starter.
For some reason, he doesn’t get near enough credit.
What Davis has done this season has been remarkable. He has 28 tackles and three sacks. You don’t even notice that he’s a true-freshman when he’s on the field. Davis plays his assignment perfectly, finds ways to get in the backfield and finishes off runs up the middle.
He isn’t quite Dexter Lawrence and he isn’t quite Christian Wilkins in terms of his playing style. In many ways, he’s a mixture of both.
We’ve seen Davis line-up in the interior, but also line-up along the outside when the Tigers have played with a 3-man front. He’s versatile and shows a great amount of explosiveness and strength in that position that makes him such a good defensive tackle.
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When talking about the success of the defense for Clemson football this season, don’t forget about Tyler Davis. He’s making plays and becoming a force for the Tigers.