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Football – Time to shine: UL’s Hall Davis invited to NFL CombineFormer Ragin’ Caun defensive end gets his shot to impress pro scouts in Indianapolis Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • February 28, 2010
The first UL player to participate in the NFL Combine since Brandon Stokely in 1999, former Ragin’ Cajun defensive end Hall Davis embarks on the most important job interview of his life as he joins a select group of college football players in Indianapolis. (Advertiser file photo/Brad Kemp) The Hall Davis fileCollege: UL For Hall Davis, the most important job interview of his young life started Friday at the NFL Davis, a former defensive end at UL, flew into Indianapolis early Friday. Upon his arrival, he faced countless questions and tests on and off the field in front of coaches, scouts and medical personnel from every NFL team. On Monday, he will compete in a series of workouts at Lucas Oil Field that will test his speed, flexibility and agility. His performance will play a big role in where he might be picked in April’s NFL draft. "I’m just going to go out there and compete at the highest level and let everything fall into place," said Davis. "I don’t want to stress myself out, so I’m not going to worry about performing to everyone else’s expectations." The first Cajun to compete in the combine since Brandon Stokley in 1999, Davis is one of more than 300 former college players in Indianapolis. After going through registration, various medical and health tests, orientations and interviews Friday, he was poked and prodded again Saturday and underwent additional psychological tests. Today’s schedule includes more of the same before Davis gets to show what he can do on the field Monday. "I talked to a lot of guys who have competed in the combine and got their opinions about everything that happens there," Davis said. "The best thing that I can do is just relax and be myself. Everything else will take care of itself." The combine will show how hard the 6-foot-5, 272-pound Davis has worked in the past few months. Since earning his undergraduate degree from UL in December, Davis has trained in Baton Rouge at Traction Center for Sports. His daily schedule featured three-hour workouts, which included everything from lifting weights to agility drills and stretching. He also got weekly massages to keep his muscles loose and worked with the same nutritionist used by the New Orleans Saints Two of the most publicized combine events on Monday are the 40-yard dash and 225-pound bench press. Davis admits that he recently ran the 40 but was not timed. Based on his training, Davis says that he hopes to get 35 reps on the bench press and run a sub-4.7 40. He did 30 reps in the bench press last spring. NFLDraftScout.com lists his best 40 time at 4.67 seconds.
Former Richmond standout Lawrence Sidbury Jr. ran the best 40 of any defensive lineman at last year’s Combine with a 4.64. Terrance Taylor, formerly of Michigan, led all defensive linemen at last year’s combine with 37 reps on the bench press. Both later got drafted in the fourth round. ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. considers Davis to be one of this draft’s sleepers at defensive end because of his athleticism, size and quickness. Kiper predicts that Davis will run in the 4.5-4.6 range on Monday. In a recent mock draft, Kiper listed Davis as a possible third-round pick for the San Francisco 49ers. ESPN’s Scouts Inc. rates Davis as the No. 15 defensive end for this year’s draft. His overall grade of 56 equates to being a fifth-round pick. According to NFLDraftScout.com, Davis is rated the No. 29 defensive end and No. 356 overall player for the draft and could be as high as a fourth-round pick. NFLDraftScout.com’s Chad Reuter says that Davis is one of the combine’s potential risers. According to Reuter, Davis "could endear himself to 3-4 teams by participating in linebacker drills. After more than holding his own in the Sun Belt, he has the athleticism to perform well on this all-important stage." His stock has risen drastically since the fall. Back in September, NFLDraftScout.com had him as the No. 68 defensive end. He moved up to No. 38 by the end of January before recently cracking the top 30. With a strong showing at the combine, he would likely climb even higher in the rankings. Todd McShay, the director of college football scouting for ESPN Scouts Inc., recently said that multiple NFL scouts have raved about Davis in the past month. "He has enough athleticism and quickness (to get drafted)," McShay said. "From what I see on tape and from what I hear, he’s supposed to work out well. "Any time that you can get a guy who can get after the quarterback and do some different things from a speed perspective, if you can run and put up those numbers then you have a chance to get drafted in the middle rounds."
It’s been quite a journey for Davis, a late-bloomer who received only two offers out of Baton Rouge’s University High — from UL and Northwestern State — after playing receiver, safety and defensive end as a prep senior. Over the past few months, pretty much every NFL team has scouted Davis. At least three teams sent out their general managers — including Green Bay’s Ted Thompson — to see him in the fall before he received an invitation to the combine. As a senior for the Cajuns in 2009, Davis tied for the team lead with 3.0 sacks and added 22 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Davis, who has gained 50 pounds since high school, showed his versatility for the pro scouts by rushing the passer and dropping back into coverage. Davis agreed in November to play in the 4th Annual Texas vs. the Nation all-star bowl on Feb. 6 but turned it down after getting an invitation to the combine. He got a late offer to play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 30, but he declined to heal up a sore hamstring and continue training for the combine. "I’m excited for Hall," UL coach Rickey Bustle said. "I think he’s well-deserving. He’s getting a lot of interest from the NFL, and scouts are taking a serious look at him." Depending on how he does in Indianapolis, Davis plans to participate in UL’s Pro Day on March 16. For now, Davis is focused on the combine. By Tuesday, he hopes to celebrate a successful performance at the combine — and his 23rd birthday — with a nice steak and salad. "I’m going to go up there and have fun and enjoy myself," Davis said. "I want to perform the best I can but also enjoy the experience. I do feel like I’ve been overlooked a little bit, but somebody had to like what they saw to invite me to the combine. "Hopefully, I can open up some more eyes at the combine by showing them what I can do."
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