If defensive tackle Jordan Davis’ 2021 season with the national champion Georgia Bulldogs didn’t do enough to establish him as the most dominant player at his position in the 2022 draft class, Davis’ historic combine performance certainly took him over the top. At 6-foot-6 and 341 pounds, Davis set Lucas Oil Stadium ablaze with a 4.78 40-yard dash, a 32-inch vertical jump, and a 123-inch broad jump.
Of course, Davis is no mere workout warrior — he was the fulcrum of the Bulldogs’ terror of a defense last season.
When Jordan Davis starts to the quarterback, things get complicated for Mr. Center. pic.twitter.com/duFOUDEjik
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 5, 2022
Davis is being honored tonight with the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. Davis will receive the award tonight at the club’s annual awards gala at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
Now, onto our questions.
What on earth did you do to prepare yourself for that incredible combine performance?
“Just being mentally ready. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it, and you know football is going to take care of itself, but it’s really the mental aspect of it. You don’t really know what to expect, and you hear stories, but you don’t know what to expect until you get there, and I think that was the biggest thing, just getting over that mental hump.”
If you were to select one play from your college career that sums you up as a player, what would it be, and why?
(Okay — this we did not expect, but here it is).
“Touchdown [his rushing touchdown against Charleston Southern last season]. The touchdown; you know, it just shows I can have a little fun and just shows who I am as a person. I like to do everything, have a lot of experiences, but to be able to experience a touchdown, you know, it’s a lot more than a lot of people that play college football [have].
“So definitely, that’s one of my favorite plays, and I think that just encapsulates what Georgia is as a program, how much that program means to me, and how much I mean to them.”
No doubt about any of that. Davis, who is firmly entrenched in the high first rounds of most mock drafts (including ours) now has one more honor on his way to the actual draft.
(Photo: John Hardcastle, Maxwell Football Club)
