Tyler Davis scouting report: Exploring the Clemson interior defensive lineman's strengths and weaknesses

Former four-star recruit Tyler Davis filled the stat sheet right away with the Tigers, with 45 tackles, 10.5 of those for loss, 6.5 sacks and a couple of batted passes. That certainly took a bump in year two and he got injured two games into the 2021 season, before re-emerging the year, when he was recognized as first-team All-ACC for putting up 9.5 TFLs, 5.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

While his negative plays created dropped off significantly (3.5 TFLs and half a sack), he was still a very active member along that front and repeating those all-conference honors.

Details: 6’2”, 300 pounds; RS SR.

Breaking down Tyler Davis' scouting report

Tyler Davis #DL03 of Clemson participates in a drill during the NFL Combine

Strengths

Run defense

Tyler Davis packs the natural force to drive blockers straight back in the run and pass game.
Has a forceful rip and can sort of shrug off guards trying to grab a hold of him as he’s clearing their hips.
Sturdy presence who can swallow bumps from the side or recover and re-establish his space in the run if he does get moved slightly initially with an angular blocker coming in on him.
Quick to ID outside zone concepts and turn his body diagonally, so he can’t be sealed or scoop-blocked on the backside.
Regularly able to torque his upper body and pull his shoulder up through the reach of blockers to create an angle toward the ball carrier for himself.
Clemson used quite a few stunts on early downs, where Davis’ ability to work over the top of bodies with well-timed hand usage to not get sealed off and make it to his gap.
Yet he’d also occupy three hands regularly when he was the primary slanter on twists, in order to allow the guy inside of him to slide over.
Provides great effort to scrape from the backside and chase the ball down the line.

Pass-rush

After putting the country on notice with a 79.6 overall PFF grade as a true freshman, Tyler Davis fought through injuries the following two seasons.He returned to his dominant ways in 2022, when his 82.9 grade was a top-10 figure among Power Five interior D-linemen.
Routinely walks guards backward and denies quarterbacks room to step up or forces them to move entirely and if you put him in wider alignments, Davis allows you to crush the pocket in a significant fashion.
When offenses use slide protections and the guy responsible for him doesn’t slide to where it’s at least a half-man relationship, Davis can cleanly defeat that with a quick swim move.
When guards overset to the outside on him, Davis’ force to crash through the inside shoulder gives those guys major trouble.
Where many interior D-linemen would just stop on the rep after having created some push up the middle, Davis disengages and closes in on the QB to make him feel it as the ball is released.
Got involved on a lot of gap exchanges and ended up as the contain rusher outside, where his ability to move laterally and get to his spots by ripping through the tackle’s reach was a plus for the defense but a minus in terms of how productive he could be as a rusher.
Provides the force to crash into offensive linemen and open up a lane for his fellow rushers to loop/stunt through.
is 36 pressures in 2022 were fourth among Power-5 IDLs on just 307 pass-rush snaps (22 on 277 opportunities last year.

Weaknesses

Not a “gap-winner” in attacking style of front, to disrupt the run.
May be looked at as nose-tackle only, but is undersized for that role and only has 31.5-inch arms, which leads to him getting hung up on blocks if pass-protectors can fit their hands inside first.
Doesn’t have a ton of pop as a pass-rusher, to really threaten opponents with his get-off or short-area twitch.
The lack of length will limit his ability to play with extension through blocks and maintain vision on the ball.
Until 2022, Davis’ growth seemingly had stagnated since an impressive freshman campaign and you argue he took a slight step backward against this past year.

Tyler Davis' 2024 NFL Draft projection

I came into last season with very similar rankings between Tyler Davis and the guy he played next to on a regular basis, Ruke Orhorhoro. Yet, while I thought the former was a highly valuable player for the Clemson Tigers, I started to see qualities in his teammate that were lacking and his projection to the NFL became more challenging.

This guy was a great run-defender in the ACC and that’s what his future team will view him as primarily. But with his short arms, he may be pigeonholed in a one-technique only, who will have to earn his right to stay on the field in passing situations.

With that being said, while Tyler Davis may never be a true difference-maker in the pros, he can absolutely give you 20-30 quality snaps per game, especially if you utilize him as a set-up man for twists and different games on third downs.

So if you can get him anytime on day three really, I have a tough time seeing anybody be disappointed with that selection, if you’re honest with yourself about where the ceiling may be.

Tyler Davis grade: Early fourth round.

You might like other DL scout reports: Leonard Taylor III; T'Vondre Sweat; Maason Smith.