J.c.
Davis.
J.c.
Davis.
Illinois· 6'4"· 322 lb· 5.16s 40
R6 · #192 · New York Giants"A five-year left tackle whose evaluation was never about upside and always about whether elite grip strength and 34-inch arms could keep covering for average foot speed once the rushers got faster."Pre-draft read
He's a vertical-set protector, quickly initiating contact with a powerful punch. Once his hands engage, the rep is effectively terminated. His wrist torque consistently turns five-techniques out of their run gaps. His pin-and-climb technique is clean: he passes off the down lineman on schedule and swiftly engages the second-level linebacker. Independent hands and a patient second strike allow him to effectively gather and counter spin moves and inside rushes.
When slow out of his stance, his kick slide flattens and hips rise, allowing speed-to-power to convert through him. Noticeable stiffness appears reaching on wide zone concepts. He finishes plays with an edge, but his athletic profile ultimately sets a hard ceiling on the ground he can cover laterally.
Gap/duo power run game schemes with a vertical-set pass protection philosophy will maximize Davis's mauling style.
Davis profiles as a developmental right tackle or heavy guard with Year 1 potential as a jumbo tight end or swing tackle; his ceiling is a power-running scheme's starting right tackle with exceptional grip strength.
He would be a poor fit for a wide-zone-heavy or spread RPO passing system, where his athletic limitations in space would be exposed.
Davis projects best to the right side of the line, where his power and grip strength can shine without demanding superior lateral agility in pass protection.
JC Davis Left Tackle Highlights
Cut-up of Davis' left tackle reps at Illinois: vertical sets, down blocks and finishes in the run game.
Gabe Jacas vs. J.C. Davis: Senior Bowl - Day 1 Practice
One-on-one pass-rush reps in Mobile against his Illinois teammate — the week that defined his pre-draft evaluation.
J.C. Davis | Offensive Tackle | Illinois - Voch Lombardi & Bryan Broaddus draft profile
Technique-focused breakdown of hand placement, set depth and anchor mechanics from an offensive line coach's view.
Davis is a power-side tackle whose game projects best to winning with mass, grip, and torque rather than foot speed. He offers a specific skill set suitable for a run-heavy scheme or interior line play. His 4.90 shuttle time reflected athletic limitations and impacted his ability to recover against quick edge rushers, which limits his ceiling at a premium position.
He arrived at McClymonds High as a defensive tackle, then played 49 FBS games, all at left tackle across two programs, earning multiple All-Conference honors, including First-team All-Mountain West and First-team All-Big Ten. His experience is notable for its volume and consistency across multiple programs and competition levels, despite athletic constraints.
Boards generally had him as a Day 3 developmental starter, with a market range of 140-180. The Senior Bowl exposed his flat kick slide against wide, speed-to-corner rushers, highlighting recovery quickness concerns. Most projected him as a right tackle or heavy guard, capping his perceived value. He was drafted at pick 192 as a swing-tackle bet on hands, mass, and extensive FBS experience.
- 01
Grip strength and torque
once his hands land inside the frame, the rep is over; he possesses the wrist and forearm torque to turn a five-technique out of a run lane.
- 02
Forty-nine FBS starts
every one at left tackle, across Mountain West and Big Ten schedules, demonstrating reliability for a starter's weekly workload and install volume.
- 03
Length he actually uses
34 1/4-inch arms and a 6'11" wingspan allow him to punch first from a vertical set, preventing rushers from working skinny into his frame.
- 04
Combo-block timing
his pin-and-climb work is genuinely clean; he passes the down lineman off on schedule and gets to the second-level linebacker without rounding the track.
- 05
Counter-punch patience
independent hands and a calm second strike allow him to gather spin moves and inside counters, a key trait for a mass-first blocker.
- 01
Recovery speed on the edge
when a wide alignment rusher wins the corner early, he lacks a second-gear redirect to run the arc effectively.
- 02
Waist bend under pressure
he plays tall when late out of his stance, allowing long-arm and bull rushers to walk him back into the pocket.
- 03
Lateral quickness in space
the 4.90 shuttle and 7.89 three-cone confirm tape showing pulls, wide-zone reach blocks, and second-level angles are uncomfortable.
- 04
Position projection
most of the league graded him as a right tackle or heavy guard, despite 49 college starts on the left side, limiting the transferability of his experience.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.16sp50
- Vertical
- 30.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 99inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.89sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.90sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Contra Costa College | 10 |
| 2022 | New Mexico | 12 |
| 2023 | New Mexico | 12 |
| 2024 | Illinois | 13 |
| 2025 | Illinois | 12 |
| Career | — | 49 |
Every FBS appearance came as a starting left tackle. Offensive linemen have no counting statistics, so games and starts are the production record.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- First-team All-Big Ten (2025)
- Third-team All-Big Ten (2024)
- First-team All-Mountain West (2023)
- Honorable Mention All-Mountain West (2022)
- First-team All-CCCAA (2021)
- Senior Bowl invitee (2026)
Realistic outcome is a power-side right tackle who starts stretches of two or three seasons and holds up fine until he meets a true speed rusher.
Best case is the durable, technically sound swing tackle who quietly starts 100-plus games because his hands and preparation cover for average movement skill.
Floor is the jumbo-package and emergency swing body who never wins a camp battle because league edge speed outruns his kick slide.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
New York took Davis with a pick acquired from Miami in the Darren Waller trade, and the fit was straightforward: a sixth-round tackle with 49 college starts, plus length and a heavy grip, dropped into a room that needed a swing body more than it needed another developmental athlete. The projection was always the right side or an interior kick, and the early work reflects that — he is being asked to prove he can hold up in jumbo packages and as the sixth offensive lineman before anyone tries him on an island against a starting edge rusher. What travels immediately is the strike timing and the ability to lock a defender out once his hands are inside; what has to survive contact with NFL speed is the kick slide, and that is the part of his game that will decide whether he is a spot starter or a career reserve.
The evaluation itself was unusually honest at the time. Nobody sold Davis as a blindside answer; the boards that liked him best still had him as a power-side developmental starter, and the ones that did not pointed at the same shuttle and three-cone numbers that showed up on the tape whenever he had to move laterally. His rise from Oakland defensive tackle to junior college to first-team All-Big Ten is the kind of arc that usually predicts continued improvement, and the coaching-point retention across three programs is a real argument for patience. But the flag was never effort or technique — it was a fixed athletic ceiling, and sixth-round tackles who cannot recover on the edge tend to be judged by how quickly they become useful in a rotation rather than by how far they eventually develop. His career will answer whether hands and mass are enough at this level.
Data note: Every FBS appearance came as a starting left tackle. Offensive linemen have no counting statistics, so games and starts are the production record.