35 Days To K-State Football: Will Davis Player Preview

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It’s Friday, a beautiful weekend awaits, and we’re now just 35 days to kick-off against North Dakota State. Next on our growing list of player previews is #35 Will Davis, a linebacker from Southlake, Texas and redshirt freshman brimming with potential.

Davis came to K-State in 2012 from Southlake Carroll High School, one of the most impressive programs in the state of Texas with eight state titles in the past 20 years. For his part, Davis helped lead the team to a title his senior year and had 176 tackles, including 115 solo stops, 10 sacks, six knockdowns, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in that year alone. Over the course of his junior and senior years he put up 300 tackles (25 for loss) and 11 sacks. As such, he was named the Texas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2011. He’s also an absolute beast. At 6’0″ and only 213 pounds coming out of high school, he reportedly ran a 4.6 40 yard dash, bench maxed 375 and squat maxed 500. He also had a 33 inch vertical. Davis has put on an additional ten pounds since coming to Manhattan.

Will Davis was a three-star recruit coming out of high school but the scouting reports on him varied greatly. The Texas media looked at his gaudy numbers on one of the state’s best programs and immediately declared him a star. However, the scouting services were not particularly high on him considering the production. Rivals did not rank him in the state of Texas, while 247 Sports considered him the No. 211 recruit in Texas (TX) and the No. 42 Inside Linebacker in the nation after his junior year. However, Davis was an early commit (in April the year before signing) to K-State after not receiving an offer from any other D-I programs. What’s interesting is that there aren’t a lot of red flags with this kid either – he was an academic all-state scholar and a member of the National Honor Society. It appears that everyone else’s loss is K-State’s gain – Davis started for the White (second) squad during the Spring game this year and has his eyes on breaking into the two-deep his first year of eligibility.