Catching up with CV alum Will Davis of the San Francisco 49ers
After a summer of frequenting the links, catching up with family and introducing his 19-week-old daughter, Will Davis reported to San Francisco 49ers training camp on Thursday, his body healthy and mind refreshed.
The veteran cornerback and Central Valley High product enjoyed his first offseason without rehab since 2014, the result of two season-ending knee injuries.
Davis, who signed a one-year contract with the 49ers in June, made up for lost time.
“I got to play a lot of golf,” said Davis, a former Utah State star drafted in the third round by the Miami Dolphins in 2013. “I saw a lot of my (Central Valley) coaches, I went to some summer league games. I went to a CV golf event in Liberty Lake.”
“Once training camp starts, though, it’s back to business.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Davis aims to crack the 54-man roster of a franchise that recently experienced a staff overhaul, hiring new coach Kyle Shanahan and a cast of new assistants, including defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
Davis, whom Baltimore acquired in a trade with Miami in 2015, logged 54 snaps for the Ravens in 2016 before he was waived in November.
San Francisco ranked last in total defense last season, but Davis like’s Saleh’s ‘4-3 under’ scheme and believes it could turn things around with the right personnel.
“It’s a little less complicated defense than what we had in Baltimore,” Davis said. “It’s a fun defense. It’s simplified so you can go fast and make plays. I think I fit in perfectly.”
Two years ago, though, it appeared as if Davis found a steady home in the Ravens’ secondary. In an early 2015 season game against Pittsburgh, he was matched up with wide receiver Antonio Brown and was credited for limiting the All-Pro to just five catches for 42 yards.
But Davis, who missed 10 games with the Dolphins in 2014 due to a torn ACL, would suffer the same injury 11 months later in Baltimore following his breakout game against the Steelers.
“”It’s tough for him because he was playing at a really high level,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said on his team’s website.
Davis felt depleted.
“The first time I tore my ACL, it didn’t bug me all that much, because these things happen. It’s hard to stay healthy for 16 games in this league,” he said. “The second time it happened, it was really frustrating. When you’re hurt, you miss a lot of opportunities.”
Before reaching the NFL, the 2008 Central Valley High grad manufactured opportunity.
An All-Greater Spokane League defensive back in his lone season of high school football, Davis went to on to play at NCAA Division II Western Washington, which axed its football program after his redshirt season.
Davis transferred De Anza Junior College in California, where he led the state in interceptions. After one year of juco ball, the speedy, spring-heeled Davis moved on to Utah State, where he earned All-Mountain West honors on a team that finished No. 16 in the in final 2012 AP Poll.
His measurables didn’t jump at pro scouts, but his raw athleticism and innate nose for the football did.
“I was still raw when I got into the league,” he said. “I was really starting to pick it up before I got hurt (in Miami) my second year.”
Davis is getting the hang of the dad business much faster.
On March 17, Davis’ longtime girlfriend Lisa Mason, a British Olympic gymnast, gave birth to their daughter, Sienna.
“It’s going great,” Davis said. “She’s at that age where she’s making facial expressions and having interactions. She’s beautiful.”