One name that fits the “Ryan Pace profile” and could be a first-round target is UTSA Edge Rusher Marcus Davenport.
One thing we’ve seen with Ryan Pace is that he loves to swing for the fences, especially in the first round. He loves a prospect with a really high ceiling. He doesn’t care if he is raw. He wants a guy that has all the right tools and he feels his franchise can coach them up the rest of the way.
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Kevin White was a gifted athlete who was raw. Leonard Floyd possessed all the right metrics, but was raw. Mitch Trubisky checked all the boxes, but was raw. If the trend continues, UTSA edge rusher Marcus Davenport could be Pace’s next target.
Davenport is a UTSA prospect that has shot up the rankings after a great combine after first turning some heads at the Senior Bowl. He’s the right size, he’s an athlete, and he has all the tools to become an elite pass rusher at the NFL level. But Davenport is still trying to figure out this whole football thing.
Davenport shows flashes on his game tape that makes you think you are watching Calais Campbell. He has the right attitude and is the type of personality that any team would welcome into the locker room. Davenport was a skinny, underweight prospect out of high school that major universities wouldn’t even look at, so UTSA became his home.
After a few years in the weight room, suddenly Davenport had the size that NFL teams wanted to see, but the converted high school wide receiver was still getting his footing as a defensive end.
When you watch the tape, you see a player with explosive quickness that has tremendous force in his tackles. He still is ironing out some technique issues, but that’s to be expected with a player this raw. The bottom line is that if a team is willing to invest time and coaching into Davenport, they could be rewarded with an incredible player.
Projects like Davenport are a risk. He’s still learning to shed blockers, needs to learn better use of his hands and many wonder if he has the ability to drop back into pass coverage if he’s asked to do so. But Davenport has a tremendous work ethic and is coachable. The right team could very well find a true gem.
Pace has shown that he’s willing to invest in players with very high ceilings. Every one of his first round picks fit the mold of a high ceiling guy with great measurements and great combine results. Davenport also has the type of attitude that coaches (and fans) will love. He has all the makings of becoming an elite pass rusher, but he needs to put it all together.
There will be far safer picks than Marcus Davenport with the eighth overall pick. But none of them have the ceiling that Davenport does. Unfortunately, almost all of them have a much higher floor as well. Davenport could become an elite pass rusher that chalks up 100+ sacks in an NFL career but he could also become a player that doesn’t even finish out his rookie contract on the team that drafts him.
Would Pace take the risk for Davenport? The Bears’ GM’s history shows that if Davenport’s potential is too much for him to pass up, he won’t hesitate to make him the newest member of the Chicago Bears.