Jarrad Davis (born November 16, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

Early years

Davis attended Camden County High School in

Kingsland, Georgia Kingsland is a city in Camden County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,337 at the 2020 census. The Kingsland Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1994. It includes the area ...

. As a senior, he had 114 tackles and three

forced fumbles A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

for the Wildcats football team. He originally committed to Auburn University to play college football but changed his commitment to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

College career

As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

at Florida in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, Davis played in all 12 games with one start, recording 24

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

. As a sophomore in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he played in nine games and missed three due to a

torn meniscus A tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of ...

, finishing with 23 tackles. As a junior in 2015, he started 12 of 14 games, recording 98 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and one

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. Davis started 9 games as a senior, missing 4 games due to injury. He recorded 60 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 pass deflections in 2016, earning him Second-Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

recognition.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On December 12, 2016, it was announced that Davis had accepted his invitation to play in the

2017 Senior Bowl The 2017 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2017 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game concluded t ...

. Unfortunately, Davis was unable to attend after suffering a sprained ankle during his senior season. Davis was one of 29 collegiate

linebackers Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

who attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

, but was unable to perform any drills due to an ankle injury. On March 28, 2017, Davis attended Florida's

Pro Day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

and performed all of the combine and positional drills for team representatives and scouts who attended. His

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

would've been the second fastest time among all linebackers at the NFL Combine. During the draft process, Davis attended private visits and workouts with the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. NFL Draft experts and analysts projected Davis to be selected in the first or second round. He was ranked the second best

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, was ranked the third best inside linebacker by NFL analyst

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks ...

, was ranked the third best linebacker by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and was ranked the fourth best linebacker in the draft by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Detroit Lions

2017

The Lions selected Davis in the first round (21st overall) of the

. He was the second linebacker selected, behind

Haason Reddick Haason Samir Reddick (born September 22, 1994) is an American football outside linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Temple, and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the ...

. On May 12, 2017, the Lions signed Davis to a four-year, $10.96 million contract that includes $8.54 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $6.11 million. Davis entered

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, slated as the starting

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. Head coach Jim Caldwell officially named Davis the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season. He started the Lions' season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals and recorded nine solo tackles and recovered the first fumble of his career by Cardinals' running back David Johnson in their 35-23 victory. The following week, he recorded six combined tackles and made the first sack of his career on New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning in the Lions' 24-10 victory. Unfortunately, he left the game in the fourth quarter after suffering a concussion when Giants wide receiver

Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the ...

blocked Davis into Giants running back

Paul Perkins Paul Kerry Perkins II (born November 16, 1994) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, leading the Pac-12 Conference in ...

. He remained in concussion protocol and missed the next two games due to concussion symptoms. On December 10, 2017, Davis made nine combined tackles and sacked quarterback

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...

as the Lions defeated the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

24-21. In Week 17, he recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles, a pass deflection, and made his first career interception in a 35-11 win against the Green Bay Packers. He made his interception off of a pass attempt by

Brett Hundley Brett Alan Hundley Jr. (born June 15, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, where he was the school's career leader in both total ...

that was intended for Jamaal Williams and returned it for 12 yards before being tackled by

Lance Kendricks Lance Ronnie Kendricks (born January 30, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Wisconsin, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of t ...

to end the Packers' first drive of the game. He finished his rookie season with 96 combined tackles (65 solo), three pass deflections, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 14 games and 14 starts. The Detroit Lions finished second in the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough r ...

with a 9-7 record but missed the playoffs, and thus the team decided to part ways with head coach Jim Caldwell at the end of the season.

2019

Davis entered the 2019 season as the Lions' starting middle linebacker. He started 11 games before being placed on injured reserve on December 14, 2019. He finished the season with 63 tackles, two sacks, and three forced fumbles.

2020

On May 2, 2020, the Lions declined the fifth-year option on Davis' contract, making him a free agent in 2021. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

list by the team on November 3, 2020, and activated six days later.

New York Jets

On March 18, 2021, Davis signed with the New York Jets. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2021. He was activated on October 30.

Detroit Lions (second stint)

On March 25, 2022, Jarrad Davis signed a deal to return to the Lions. He was released on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.

New York Giants

On December 28, 2022, Davis was signed by the Giants off of the Lions' practice squad. He re-signed with the team on March 8, 2023. During OTAs, Davis suffered a knee injury and as a result, on July 18, the Giants placed him on injured reserve, ending his 2023 season.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

*
Florida Gators bioDetroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Jarrad 1994 births Living people People from Kingsland, Georgia Players of American football from Camden County, Georgia American football linebackers Florida Gators football players Detroit Lions players New York Jets players New York Giants players