Wyatt
Davis.
Wyatt
Davis.
Ohio State· 6'3"· 315 lb
"An Ohio State guard with three-year starter reps, All-American production and an athletic profile that dropped between the pre-combine and post-combine tapes."Pre-draft read
Plays right guard in a gap/power run scheme with reps as a puller and second-level climber; comfortable in short-set pass protection, but not asked to slide-protect on an island. This is a knee-bent, hand-heavy player whose separator is independent hand use — he strikes with placement inside the frame, resets quickly, and rarely loses first contact.
In the run game, he plays with square pads, generates jolt on down blocks, and shows tempo on skip pulls. He is more of a mover-of-bodies than a displacer. As a pass protector, he sets with tight, patient feet. Quicker interior rushers can win his outside shoulder off the snap. When he loses leverage, he loses the rep.
A gap/power run scheme with a downfield passing game, emphasizing inside zone, double teams, and G-scheme pulling guards.
Year 1: immediate starter at right guard in a power run scheme; Ceiling: multi-year starter and tone-setter.
Any passive, horizontal offensive scheme reliant on zone-slide protection and lateral agility for pass protection.
Wyatt Davis projects as a plug-and-play right guard in a downhill run scheme, but his lateral limitations could be exploited in open-interval protections against quick NFL interior rushers.
2021 NFL Draft Preview: Ohio State OL Wyatt Davis
Pre-draft breakdown highlighting Davis's hand technique and power at right guard.
Wyatt Davis ready to rearrange NFL defensive lines
BTN feature clip showing Davis's finishing demeanor and down-block strike.
'Buckeye Nation, I'm back!' — Wyatt Davis
Announcement/return package with cut-ups from his 2019 All-American season at Ohio State.
Wyatt Davis projected as a plus starter in a downhill run offense, a lineman who could contribute early with his technical prowess. His college résumé and refined hand technique, particularly, made him an appealing prospect for teams prioritizing foundational blocking skills. He offered the immediate utility of a two-year starter with a high football IQ, capable of handling complex line schemes.
He played 27 games and started 20 at right guard for Ohio State, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2019 and participating in back-to-back College Football Playoff runs. He was consistently used in a zone/gap scheme that highlighted his ability to generate push and execute pulls. The quality and volume of his snap counts against top competition demonstrated a high floor for his position, even without a full battery of athletic testing.
Evaluation risk centered on his athletic profile, specifically lateral quickness and recovery, along with average length for the position. Consensus boards placed him in a wide late-first to early-third round range, with the Minnesota Vikings ultimately trading up to select him at pick #86. This reflected the market's appreciation for his college production combined with a discount on his athletic ceiling.
- 01
Hand technique
Independent, well-placed hands with quick resets; consistently wins first contact and re-fits inside the frame against defensive linemen.
- 02
Play strength on down blocks
Generates real jolt from a knee-bent base on inside-zone and gap-scheme down blocks, moving 300-pound defensive tackles off their landmarks.
- 03
Anchor against straight power
Absorbs bull rushes with a wide base and functional grip strength, consistently stalemating power rushers when meeting them squarely.
- 04
Pulling and short-area movement
Comfortable on skip pulls, wraps, and G-schemes, showing coordination to climb to second-level linebackers and land angle blocks.
- 05
Football IQ and processing
Two-year starter next to future NFL centers, handling sliding protections and stunts at a high level without missing communication.
- 01
Lateral quickness and recovery
Struggles to reset his feet and mirror when beaten off the snap, allowing quicker interior rushers to win his outside shoulder.
- 02
Athletic testing gap
No full combine or pro-day numbers, leaving evaluators without confirmed short-shuttle, three-cone, or explosion data.
- 03
Length limitations
Arms measured just over 33 inches with modest hand size for the position, allowing long 3-techniques to control blocks by getting to his chest first.
- 04
Waist bend in pass sets
Under duress, he will lean at the waist rather than sliding with his feet, opening inside counters against quicker rushers.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 25repp50
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 2017 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 2018 | Ohio State | 7 |
| 2019 | Ohio State | 12 |
| 2020 | Ohio State | 6 |
| Career | — | 27 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Decorated college interior lineman who profiled as a hand-heavy starter and settled into an inconsistent starter/rotational role once the athletic margins tightened; the fair middle projection for Davis's profile.
Right guard who lives in a gap/power scheme, wins with hand placement and functional power over athleticism; a realistic ceiling that always assumed Davis maximized his run-game strengths at the next level.
Highly decorated college guard whose average length and lateral quickness cratered against NFL 3-techniques; captures the downside where technique alone couldn't offset limited traits — the outcome Davis has trended toward.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Bust. Never won a full-time starting job, waived before Year 2, journeyman practice-squad guard through 2024. Out of the league by 2025 camp. Pre-draft mobility flag proved decisive.
**Pre-draft context.** Wyatt Davis arrived at Ohio State as a five-star recruit from St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) and the grandson of Hall of Famer Willie Davis, and he delivered on the pedigree in Columbus: a two-year starter at right guard, unanimous All-American in 2019, Big Ten Rimington–Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, and a leader on back-to-back CFP offenses. At 6'4", 315 pounds with mid-33-inch arms he was one of the cleanest interior technicians in the class on tape — a knee-bent, hand-heavy mauler who lived in a phone booth and rarely lost first contact. He opted into the 2020 season, then leaned on tape after a limited pre-draft workout, and consensus boards had him in the late-first-to-second-round range.
**NFL fit — Minnesota Vikings.** Minnesota traded up in the third round to select Davis at #86, plugging him in behind Ezra Cleveland and Dakota Dozier as a projected long-term right guard next to Christian Darrisaw. The fit was clean on paper — a downhill gap/power scheme — but Davis never stabilized the job. He was inactive for most of his rookie year, saw uneven reps in 2022 preseason, and the organization's decision-makers waived him at final cuts, choosing Chris Reed and Ed Ingram over him. He was claimed by New Orleans, then Arizona, played a single meaningful snap for the Cardinals in Week 10 of 2022, and was released before the year ended.
**Retrospective.** Davis has since bounced through the Giants' practice squad and the fringes of NFL rosters without carving out a rotational role, a striking outcome for a player who entered the league with All-American production and a technical profile designed to age well. The tape had never promised elite length or lateral quickness, and once his anchor and pass-set balance were tested against NFL 3-techniques the margin for error disappeared. In hindsight the #86 slot looks like a fair value for the college résumé and a miss on projection — a reminder that decorated Ohio State interior linemen who lack rare traits often land closer to backup than starter in the pros.