Davis Lights Up Giants' Stadium Again!

Nov 2, 2017; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis (56) is led onto the field by police motorcycles before a game against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Over the next few months, we’ll be breaking down all of the players added by the Jets during free agency and in the legal tampering window. We begin today with linebacker Demario Davis.

Davis, who is now 37, is returning to the Jets for a third stint with the team, having spent his last eight seasons establishing himself as one of the NFL’s best linebackers in New Orleans. We’ll recap his career but our analysis will try to focus on what he has left in the tank and still brings to the table. Background Davis spent most of his high school career as a wide receiver so wasn’t a heavily-recruited linebacker prospect coming out of high school and opted to go to Arkansas State where he redshirted his first season in 2007.

After a year in a reserve role that saw him register 17 tackles and a fumble return for a touchdown in 11 games, Davis moved into the starting role as a redshirt sophomore and had 80 tackles, three sacks and a pick-six. In each of the next two seasons, he earned all-Sun Belt first team honors as he had 60 tackles and two interceptions in 2010 and 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and three sacks in 2011. The Jets ultimately drafted Davis in 2012 and he backed up Bart Scott as a rookie, as he ended up making three starts and recording 36 tackles but no impact plays.

He was a full-time starter in 2013 and had 106 tackles, then was productive in 2014 with 116 tackles, 3. 5 sacks and five pass breakups. However, the team started to lose faith in him during the 2015 season and he was phased out towards the end of the year, ending up with 90 tackles.