Ashtyn (don’t call me Ashton) Davis - Is he a solid starting Safety when healthy?

[jetstream23]

 

[Coffee Is Great]

Is there any context? How many times was he targeted? He's certainly not good enough to be at the "QB's won't even look at him" so it's not a coverage thing. 

[BigRy56]

I think he could be a solid starter but because he can’t stay healthy, he’ll just be a backup safety in the league

[TheClashFan]

How in the world does PFF measure such things? As already asked, what is the context here? 

Hey, maybe he's a good young player, but I seem to recall him missing tackles and being late in coverage quite a bit this past year.

 

[LAD_Brooklyn]

He's a good 3rd safety, average 2nd safety and if he's your best safety on the roster then you're most likely in trouble. 

[Matt39]

There are like 3 DB’s in the sports history that could get away with not tackling and Davis isn’t one of them. He’s terrible.

[Joe W. Namath]

I like Asyton Davis.  He got better as the season went on and got more experience.  

He should def start at one of the safety spots next year.  He is going to be a good player for us.

[Fantasy Island]

39 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

 

[Untouchable]

6 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

I like Asyton Davis.  He got better as the season went on and got more experience.  

He should def start at one of the safety spots next year.  He is going to be a good player for us.

He’s certainly the only thing even resembling a playmaker in the secondary right now.

He had that 3 game stretch towards the end of the year where he had 2 INT’s and 3 FF’s.

[sourceworx]

Wasn't the knock on him coming out of college that he was very raw?  A great athlete, but inexperienced?  

If so, I'd include him with the rookies on defense who took their lumps this past season. 

[Jethead]

Starter or not, he's a solid asset of our Safety group. An add to piece, not a replace piece.

[More Cowbell]

JAG is how I would describe him.

[Sonny Werblin]

I think Davis will just take time and needs to stay injury free. Availability is the key to his improvement. He's got all the tools. He is super athletic and fearless. I don't know why people think a guy is a flop if he is not productive in his first couple of years. The NFL is hard and it is tough to improve when you are not playing. 

[Peace Frog]

I think we hired him to play that center field deep saftey position swatting balls away, picking balls off, helping out sideline to sideline.  He hasn't been great at that--often times he's standing 3-4 yards away from a WR that just cought a TD and he's got his hands up in the air like "where was my help" but HE'S supposed to be the help.  To be fair, he has gotten better over the latter part of the season--he is a pretty solid tackler but for one really bad miss--I forget against who--but he can lay the lumber.

Hoping Saleh can coach him up or scheme him to be a solid free safety.  

[Joe W. Namath]

25 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

He’s certainly the only thing even resembling a playmaker in the secondary right now.

He had that 3 game stretch towards the end of the year where he had 2 INT’s and 3 FF’s.

Yup.  And remember he missed all of camp last year.  Now that he is healthy and will have a full offseason/training camp to improve his game, he is going to be a big time player for us next year.

[Jimmy 2 Times]

Get a real edge rusher and the whole secondary becomes really good. 

[jetstream23]

1 hour ago, TheClashFan said:

How in the world does PFF measure such things? As already asked, what is the context here? 

 

Great question.  It's clickbait.  But hey... it got me to start a thread about it.  It got you all to reply.  So they're doing something right. ?

But to answer the main question of whether this guy is good, I actually think he is.  There's no doubt that injuries have played a detrimental role in his career thus far, but when on the field he's shown quite a bit.  I like his range, he seems to tackle well, coaches like him.  Would love to see him over a full season where he's healthy, playing at least 15 games or so.

The bigger question, is he good enough that the Jets can count on him as a starter or are they looking to BOTH sign a FA Safety and Draft one?

It seems very likely that Kyle Hamilton will be on the Board when the Jets pick at #4.  Most fans, including me, really, really don't want to use a pick that high on a Safety.  But from a pure talent perspective, Hamilton will likely be the best football player on the Board regardless of position when the Jets draft.  If the Jets re-sign Morgan Moses then I don't think they go OT at #4.  If they sign a solid Safety in FA then, along with Davis, maybe they take Hamilton off the list too.

[rangerous]

davis has improved from year to year.  he still takes wrong angles in pursuit that a lot of that should be better as he gains experience.

[jetstream23]

2 minutes ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

Get a real edge rusher and the whole secondary becomes really good. 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

1 hour ago, jetstream23 said:

 

Good post.  I appreciate these types of threads but agree with others that important context is missing.

At this point, he doesn’t look like an average (or better) starting safety but we’d need to consider a few important things like his rate of improvement, overall durability, and chance for success (does he look worse because LBs cannot cover TEs; he has a young secondary that might be misreading zone responsibilities).

Message boards often favor the quick one or sentence answers but lots to evaluate on this one.

I will say it seemed like his playing time went down while Pinnock’s went up so that might be a sign of where the Jets go at Free Safety.  I think his size and durability would be major concerns at strong safety.

Last thought from me, I’m just not seeing the instincts a good safety should have.  He seems to be in constant react mode rather than in anticipation mode.  Just my 1 cent.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

Since you asked (no one did ;), I believe the Jets have a couple inexpensive options to solve Free safety in Pinnock, Davis, and a cheap re-resigning of Joyner (who thrived there with the Rams).  
 

It’s the strong safety / run stopper I do not see anywhere on the roster.  To me, that looks like the target in FA with a guy like Riley as a viable backup.
 

Add a third round CB to compete with Echols and I believe the secondary is fine.  

[varjet]

Ashtyn Davis will never be the Jordan Poyer, Jessie Bates or Jimmie Ward that the Jets and Saleh's defense needs. 

He is an ok S3-4.   He can be kept as a reserve, develop and hopefully earn the Jets a comp pick.    He did play many more games than Lemarcus Joyner who cost alot more money.   He is not the big problem, but he is not the solution.  A S room of FA, FA/Draft Pick, Davis and Pinnock is a good room.  Let's go with that.  

[jago]

you can have good reasons to pass on hamilton as a top 10 pick,
but if you do so only because you have davis
then its the safety version of hack over mahomes.

[Peace Frog]

14 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Since you asked (no one did ;), I believe the Jets have a couple inexpensive options to solve Free safety in Pinnock, Davis, and a cheap re-resigning of Joyner (who thrived there with the Rams).  
 

It’s the strong safety / run stopper I do not see anywhere on the roster.  To me, that looks like the target in FA with a guy like Riley as a viable backup.
 

Add a third round CB to compete with Echols and I believe the secondary is fine.  

Or convert Jamien Sherwood and/or that Hamsah dude back to S and draft/sign real linebackers. 

[Peace Frog]

37 minutes ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

Get a real edge rusher and the whole secondary becomes really good. 

And get a real TE and the whole offense becomes better. 

[BallinPB]

Definitely going to be an average safety in the league and that's fine for where you got him.  He was better as the season progressed.  

[Larz]

Nah. He’s the 3rd safety at best. I trust Pinnock more. If Joyner is healthy they need to add 1 starting caliber safety 

[The Crusher]

4 minutes ago, BallinPB said:

Definitely going to be an average safety in the league and that's fine for where you got him.  He was better as the season progressed.  

That’s about fair. Was never a plug in starter and has shown improvement, plus it’s kind of hard to look good on a defense that bad I think. 

[JustInFudge]

Simple answer, no.  He's not starter worthy. Very nice depth, a guy who can start in a pinch type player but you cant play safety full time and tackle like Davis.

[BallinPB]

Just now, JiFapono said:

Simple answer, no.  He's not starter worthy. Very nice depth, a guy who can start in a pinch type player but you cant play safety full time and tackle like Davis.

That's really the only thing that concerns me with Davis.  He doesn't wrap up to make a tackle.  He did start making plays and creating turnovers towards the end of the season so he is definitely someone you can work with to see if he can take that next step.  I believe he can be a starter for sure.  

[LAD_Brooklyn]

1 hour ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

Get a real edge rusher and the whole secondary becomes really good. 

Or we can do what the Pats have been doing in loading up on the backend which made the pass rush better. 

[FootballLove]

Unfortunately for Ashtyn and Berrios we gave all our 'small white guy love' to 'lil Wayne. We got nothin left.

 

[jamesr]

19 minutes ago, LAD_Brooklyn said:

Or we can do what the Pats have been doing in loading up on the backend which made the pass rush better. 

I think we'd need an in-their-prime Revis, Ramsey, Reed and Sherman as our back 4 to make our pass rush look good.  

[Adoni Beast]

I think on a good team, he would struggle to make the roster. He has done nothing to show he can start for any defense to be honest....including our historically bad one.

[Jimmy 2 Times]

1 hour ago, LAD_Brooklyn said:

Or we can do what the Pats have been doing in loading up on the backend which made the pass rush better. 

I’d rather add one player over rebuilding an entire unit.