Favre on Austin Davis: "He can be the next Brady or Warner"

[Selassie I]

My favorite part of Davis' game has been his fearlessness.

He ain't scared.

 

[ReddingRam]

Foot work can be improved and throwing mechanics can too....arm action is the hardest thing to change. The motion of the arm while throwing. This becomes pretty well engrained and is tough to change. This is still the thing that bothers me the most....although I couldnt care less with the accuracy he has displayed. He is long looping arm action has probably been addressed by coaches more than once....its just how he throws at this point. There are guys who dont have perfect action that do exceptionally well....Rivers for one.

I think he needs to work a bit more on hitting the hot reads when blitzes come. There have been a few sacks he has taken that he should have gone to the hot sooner ... and when he is pressured late .. he tends to force balls into coverage. That is where most of his late and untimely Int's have come from

 

[Prime Time]

Farve would know. He saw Warner a few years before anyone else did......

Kurt Warner

Following his college career, Warner went undrafted in the 1994 NFL Draft. He was invited to try out for the Green Bay Packers' training camp in 1994, but was released before the regular season began; Warner was competing for a spot against Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.

While Warner was with the Packers, the head coach was Mike Holmgren; the quarterback coach was Steve Mariucci; and Andy Reid was the offensive assistant. After Warner was released, Mariucci told him that he knew Warner had enormous potential but was not ready to be an NFL quarterback yet.

In 1998, Warner was finally signed by an NFL franchise, the St. Louis Rams, and was allocated to NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals, where he would lead the league in touchdowns and passing yards. Incidentally, his backup at the time was future Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, another famous rags-to-riches quarterback story. Returning to the United States for the season, Warner spent the 1998 season as St. Louis' third-string quarterback behind Tony Banks and Steve Bono. He ended his season completing only 4 of 11 pass attempts for 39 yards and a 47.2 QB rating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Warner#Professional_career
---------------------------------
Austin Davis

A walk-on to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles program, Davis redshirted the 2007 season and became the starter a year later. He ended the year with a combined total of 15 school records for both game and single-season marks and led the Golden Eagles to a bowl game victory in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl. He was selected to the Freshman All-Conference USA team and earned a Freshman All-American honorable mention by CollegeFootballNews.com for 2008.

Davis was a walk-on to the University of Southern Mississippi football program and redshirted the 2007 season. For 2008, Davis was named the starting quarterback by head coach Larry Fedora and became the first freshman to be named the starting quarterback at Southern Miss since 1991. Davis began the season with five 200-yard passing games, more than any other Southern Miss quarterback has put together, and nine altogether for the season, tying a school record for most in a season.

For the year, Davis set a new school record with 3,128 passing yards and broke Brett Favre's school record for most touchdown passes by a freshman with 23. He ended the year with a combined total of 15 school records for both game and single-season marks,
which included most passing yards in a game (461) and most rushing touchdowns in a contest (5) as well as total offense for a season (3,323).

Davis was ranked 16th nationally in total offense (279.7) and 52nd in passing efficiency (128.6) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). His total offense average was the highest among freshmen quarterbacks in the country, ahead of the likes of Kellen Moore of Boise State (265.9) and Robert Griffin of Baylor (244.5). In the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, Davis threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns and became the first freshman quarterback to lead the Golden Eagles to a bowl game victory.

Davis was named to the All-Conference USA freshman team and a freshman All-American honorable mention by CollegeFootballNews.com. Before the 2009 season, Davis was named on the Manning Award watch list.

Davis got off to another great start in the by completing 108-156 passes (69%) for 1,165 yards and 10 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions. He gained some national notoriety following a 35-28 loss to nationally ranked Kansas, in which Davis matched All-American candidate Todd Reesing yard for yard. However, his promising start was cut short by a broken foot suffered in the fifth game of the season against UAB.

Davis returned in 2010 and put up another good season, throwing for 3,103 yards with 20 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions while running for another 452 yards and 10 touchdowns. On November 30, Southern Miss went on the road to face the eventual C-USA and Liberty Bowl champion Central Florida and their highly rated defense. Davis responded by completing 21-34 passes for 264 yard and 4 scores, leading the Golden Eagles to a road upset over the ranked Knights.

He delivered an encore the next week in an emotional game against the Houston Cougars. Following the shooting of three teammates, Davis responded with the best game of his career, completing 24 of 31 passes for 293 yards and 2 scores while running for 111 yards and 4 more scores as Southern Miss topped Houston 59-41. In the Papajohns.com Bowl against Louisville, Davis passed Brett Favre on the schools passing touchdown record with a 32-yard pass to Quentin Pierce in the first quarter. Davis would go on to throw another touchdown as well as catch one in the 31-28 loss.

Heading into his senior season, Davis had either broken or was on the verge of breaking nearly every passing record in Southern Miss history. He passed Favre's yardage record in the second game of the season at Marshall. Davis had arguably his best on October 8, at Navy. He completed 21 of his 23 passes for 283 yards and 3 scores as well as running for 75 yards and another score, posting a QB rating of 237.7.

Davis led the Golden Eagles to a C-USA Eastern Division championship and a spot in the conference championship game against undefeated and 6th ranked Houston and their record setting QB Case Keenum. Despite being a 15 point underdog and being overshadowed by Keenum prior to the game, Davis outplayed Keenum, connecting on 17 of 34 passes for 276 yards and 4 touchdowns as he led Southern Miss to one of the biggest wins in school history .

Davis finished his career with a 24-17 victory in the Hawaii bowl over Nevada. Davis' last pass as a collegiate QB was a touchdown in the final minutes to secure the win. Davis ended the 2011 season throwing for 3,496 yards and 30 touchdowns, both school records, while also rushing for 352 yards and four touchdowns. At the conclusion of his senior season he was named the winner of the Conerly Trophy, an award given annually to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.


His final stats were: 933-1527 (61.1%) for 10,898 yards, 83 touchdowns against just 27 interceptions. He also ran the ball 460 times for 1,375 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also caught 2 passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. Davis accounted for 109 touchdowns in his four-year career.[

Davis went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft and signed a free agent deal with the St. Louis Rams. On August 30, 2013, Davis was cut by the Rams.

Davis re-signed with the Rams on October 22, 2013, after an injury to Sam Bradford. In the first week of the 2014 NFL season against the Minnesota Vikings, Davis entered the game at the start of the second half in relief of starter Shaun Hill. A week later, due to Hill's prevailing injury, Davis made his NFL starting debut on September 14, in a winning effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Davis was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2012 MLB Draft in the 31st round, even though he only played baseball for one year in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Davis

 

[Rams and Gators]

If it was a choice between first round WR for Davis to throw to or first round QB, I'm going with the first round WR at this point.

 

[theramsruleUK]

Favre has given him high praise, said he could be the next Brady
Gruden has given him high praise, said he could be the next Bree's

Maybe just maybe, we might have somehow stumbled onto our QB for the future? Could be very exiciting

 

[fearsomefour]

I think he needs to work a bit more on hitting the hot reads when blitzes come. There have been a few sacks he has taken that he should have gone to the hot sooner ... and when he is pressured late .. he tends to force balls into coverage. That is where most of his late and untimely Int's have come from

I agree. This is a by product of being a young inexperienced player. I think overall he does a pretty good job of going through reads though. Light years ahead of someone like Geno Smith who was drafted with a fair amount of hype.

 

[fearsomefour]

Kurt Warner

Following his college career, Warner went undrafted in the 1994 NFL Draft. He was invited to try out for the Green Bay Packers' training camp in 1994, but was released before the regular season began; Warner was competing for a spot against Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.

While Warner was with the Packers, the head coach was Mike Holmgren; the quarterback coach was Steve Mariucci; and Andy Reid was the offensive assistant. After Warner was released, Mariucci told him that he knew Warner had enormous potential but was not ready to be an NFL quarterback yet.

In 1998, Warner was finally signed by an NFL franchise, the St. Louis Rams, and was allocated to NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals, where he would lead the league in touchdowns and passing yards. Incidentally, his backup at the time was future Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, another famous rags-to-riches quarterback story. Returning to the United States for the season, Warner spent the 1998 season as St. Louis' third-string quarterback behind Tony Banks and Steve Bono. He ended his season completing only 4 of 11 pass attempts for 39 yards and a 47.2 QB rating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Warner#Professional_career
---------------------------------
Austin Davis

A walk-on to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles program, Davis redshirted the 2007 season and became the starter a year later. He ended the year with a combined total of 15 school records for both game and single-season marks and led the Golden Eagles to a bowl game victory in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl. He was selected to the Freshman All-Conference USA team and earned a Freshman All-American honorable mention by CollegeFootballNews.com for 2008.

Davis was a walk-on to the University of Southern Mississippi football program and redshirted the 2007 season. For 2008, Davis was named the starting quarterback by head coach Larry Fedora and became the first freshman to be named the starting quarterback at Southern Miss since 1991. Davis began the season with five 200-yard passing games, more than any other Southern Miss quarterback has put together, and nine altogether for the season, tying a school record for most in a season.

For the year, Davis set a new school record with 3,128 passing yards and broke Brett Favre's school record for most touchdown passes by a freshman with 23. He ended the year with a combined total of 15 school records for both game and single-season marks,
which included most passing yards in a game (461) and most rushing touchdowns in a contest (5) as well as total offense for a season (3,323).

Davis was ranked 16th nationally in total offense (279.7) and 52nd in passing efficiency (128.6) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). His total offense average was the highest among freshmen quarterbacks in the country, ahead of the likes of Kellen Moore of Boise State (265.9) and Robert Griffin of Baylor (244.5). In the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, Davis threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns and became the first freshman quarterback to lead the Golden Eagles to a bowl game victory.

Davis was named to the All-Conference USA freshman team and a freshman All-American honorable mention by CollegeFootballNews.com. Before the 2009 season, Davis was named on the Manning Award watch list.

Davis got off to another great start in the by completing 108-156 passes (69%) for 1,165 yards and 10 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions. He gained some national notoriety following a 35-28 loss to nationally ranked Kansas, in which Davis matched All-American candidate Todd Reesing yard for yard. However, his promising start was cut short by a broken foot suffered in the fifth game of the season against UAB.

Davis returned in 2010 and put up another good season, throwing for 3,103 yards with 20 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions while running for another 452 yards and 10 touchdowns. On November 30, Southern Miss went on the road to face the eventual C-USA and Liberty Bowl champion Central Florida and their highly rated defense. Davis responded by completing 21-34 passes for 264 yard and 4 scores, leading the Golden Eagles to a road upset over the ranked Knights.

He delivered an encore the next week in an emotional game against the Houston Cougars. Following the shooting of three teammates, Davis responded with the best game of his career, completing 24 of 31 passes for 293 yards and 2 scores while running for 111 yards and 4 more scores as Southern Miss topped Houston 59-41. In the Papajohns.com Bowl against Louisville, Davis passed Brett Favre on the schools passing touchdown record with a 32-yard pass to Quentin Pierce in the first quarter. Davis would go on to throw another touchdown as well as catch one in the 31-28 loss.

Heading into his senior season, Davis had either broken or was on the verge of breaking nearly every passing record in Southern Miss history. He passed Favre's yardage record in the second game of the season at Marshall. Davis had arguably his best on October 8, at Navy. He completed 21 of his 23 passes for 283 yards and 3 scores as well as running for 75 yards and another score, posting a QB rating of 237.7.

Davis led the Golden Eagles to a C-USA Eastern Division championship and a spot in the conference championship game against undefeated and 6th ranked Houston and their record setting QB Case Keenum. Despite being a 15 point underdog and being overshadowed by Keenum prior to the game, Davis outplayed Keenum, connecting on 17 of 34 passes for 276 yards and 4 touchdowns as he led Southern Miss to one of the biggest wins in school history .

Davis finished his career with a 24-17 victory in the Hawaii bowl over Nevada. Davis' last pass as a collegiate QB was a touchdown in the final minutes to secure the win. Davis ended the 2011 season throwing for 3,496 yards and 30 touchdowns, both school records, while also rushing for 352 yards and four touchdowns. At the conclusion of his senior season he was named the winner of the Conerly Trophy, an award given annually to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.


His final stats were: 933-1527 (61.1%) for 10,898 yards, 83 touchdowns against just 27 interceptions. He also ran the ball 460 times for 1,375 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also caught 2 passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. Davis accounted for 109 touchdowns in his four-year career.[

Davis went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft and signed a free agent deal with the St. Louis Rams. On August 30, 2013, Davis was cut by the Rams.

Davis re-signed with the Rams on October 22, 2013, after an injury to Sam Bradford. In the first week of the 2014 NFL season against the Minnesota Vikings, Davis entered the game at the start of the second half in relief of starter Shaun Hill. A week later, due to Hill's prevailing injury, Davis made his NFL starting debut on September 14, in a winning effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Davis was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2012 MLB Draft in the 31st round, even though he only played baseball for one year in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Davis

Just goes to show the continued bias NFL player personal people have toward small schools. If a guy puts up great stats he is dismissed because of the competition. If a guy is 6' 5" and went to a big school he will get moved ahead of other small school guys. Its just silly sometimes. Although I would think Davis' bad arm action effected the view of him as well.
If he does stick and turns into the guy we will have to endure the stories about how the Ram coaches developed him and found him....they lucked out.

 

[A55VA6]

I strongly suspect if a healthy Sam was running this current team, we might be 5-1 or even 6-0. As it is, we have an emerging situation with this young kid that may heavily impact Sam's future with this franchise. The answers for the coaching brass will be more obvious as the season progresses.

I may sound a bit crazy here.. but I think this team could possible be 0-6 or 1-5 with Bradford. My reasoning is Austin Davis has made most of his big plays after escaping pressure. With Bradford, it more than likely would have been a sack or a throw away. Sam may have a better arm/more accurate, etc. but there's something about Austin Davis and his ability to make a play that I don't think Bradford really has. I also really love Davis's energy and love for the game.

At this point, i'd rather roll with Davis rather than a healthy Bradford. But who knows what next season holds.

 

[rambone]

If he learns to drop a long ball in the basket he'll be a top QB.

You mean like the sweet 51-yard bomb to Quick in the Dallas game? If that's not in the basket and in stride I don't know what is!

 

[Sum1]

I've been nothing short of impressed with Davis this season...especially considering how incredibly terrible he looked in camp last year. He looks very legitimate thus far. Pleasant surprise.

 

[Rams and Gators]

I strongly suspect if a healthy Sam was running this current team, we might be 5-1 or even 6-0. As it is, we have an emerging situation with this young kid that may heavily impact Sam's future with this franchise. The answers for the coaching brass will be more obvious as the season progresses.

Off topic (or maybe on topic) I didn't realise it was over a year since Sam's last game, he got injured on 10/20/13 so at 367 days and counting.

 

[lockdnram21]

If it was a choice between first round WR for Davis to throw to or first round QB, I'm going with the first round WR at this point.

For me it's Qb, LB, FS. I don't understand why people would want to draft a receiver when ours are developing. I feel after this year we will be a couple pieces away.

 

[Rams43]

Here's the thing about Davis that encourages me.

He's already proven to be plenty good enough to execute Schotty's new "push the ball downfield" O.

Yes, he's got some learning and growing to do. And I think he will. But with a competent OL, running game, overall D, and ST, the kid can get the job done. Including future playoff potential.

Look at it this way. Is there any QB from this last draft playing as well as Davis?

I think we got pretty damned lucky with Davis, and we should run with it full bore until season's end. Plenty of time then to evaluate.

 

[VegasRam]

Looking at some of the comments in this thread, I'm kinda' surprised, (and actually encouraged).
(And while I love SB, Davis has much better touch on the ball, 'specially on screens).

I'm not a coach, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last nite, but I'm having a hard time seeing Davis' bad throwing motion.
Not the quickest, nor the strongest, but it looks OK to me, which is backed up by his completion percentage, and TD/INT ratio.
And he gets, my opinion, a small pass for the INTs, given the situations where they were thrown.
Has he actually had any batted passes?

As far as, mechanics, blitz pick-ups, hot reads etc, he's played 5 games. Very encouraged.
Oh, BTW, he's faced Dallas, Philly, Frisco and Seattle. Just sayin'.

 

[LesBaker]

AD flashed impressive potential as an underrated rookie two years ago. Struggled with his execution for whatever reason last season (immature receivers?, dodgy OL?). Now he is growing in visible leaps & bounds with each game. He is showcasing accuracy that rivals Sam, although he could stand to muscle up his arms, shoulders, and overall body strength.

What's not to get excited about?

I strongly suspect if a healthy Sam was running this current team, we might be 5-1 or even 6-0. As it is, we have an emerging situation with this young kid that may heavily impact Sam's future with this franchise. The answers for the coaching brass will be more obvious as the season progresses.

Sam as in Bradford? If so Bradford was never nearly as accurate as Davis. Not even close, Bradford has been average at best.

 

[LesBaker]

Here's the thing about Davis that encourages me.

He's already proven to be plenty good enough to execute Schotty's new "push the ball downfield" O.

Yes, he's got some learning and growing to do. And I think he will. But with a competent OL, running game, overall D, and ST, the kid can get the job done. Including future playoff potential.

Look at it this way. Is there any QB from this last draft playing as well as Davis?

I think we got pretty damned lucky with Davis, and we should run with it full bore until season's end. Plenty of time then to evaluate.

I'll go even further.

Name 10 QB's that are performing better or have better production in the time he has stepped in.

I've seen enough to think he is the real deal and he is going to get even better. IMO he will end up making Bradford obsolete.

 

[BigRamFan]

I'll go even further.

Name 10 QB's that are performing better or have better production in the time he has stepped in.

I've seen enough to think he is the real deal and he is going to get even better. IMO he will end up making Bradford obsolete.

Sam's salary might make him "obsolete" but, IMO, nothing A. Davis does, short of maybe being a SB winning QB this year, is going to achieve that. Also, I don't get your take on AD being more accurate than Sam, just isn't true. And, I understand the career completion %, but that alone does not convince me. Davis is not playing with the same cast of characters, at the same point in their development that Sam did.

 

[LesBaker]

Sam's salary might make him "obsolete" but, IMO, nothing A. Davis does, short of maybe being a SB winning QB this year, is going to achieve that. Also, I don't get your take on AD being more accurate than Sam, just isn't true. And, I understand the career completion %, but that alone does not convince me. Davis is not playing with the same cast of characters, at the same point in their development that Sam did.

Bradford has not been known for his accuracy since he has been in the NFL. And he wasn't breaking records this pre season. Davis is a more accurate QB and has "thrown WR's open" as they say several times so far. He just throws the ball better IMO, and lots of others see it the same way.

Salary and Davis playing well is what will make Bradford obsolete, unless he is willing to take a big reduction in salary.

I wonder what is going on in Sneads mind, Demoff and Fisher too. I wonder if they are having closed door conversations starting with "What do we do if he plays like this for the rest of the year".

 

[CoachO]

I continue to wonder why so many are so unconvinced about Davis. I know it happens when a QB wasn't expected to do well like Nick Foles. But I don't think Davis is getting by on luck, scheme and personnel like Foles did in 2013. And I don't think he's being insulated or protected in the offense with just short passing or a lot of running.

The guy seems like the real deal and has played some very good ball. And again, he's making the Schotty offense work. I'd almost argue he should be an MVP candidate for that!

While I agree he doesn't seem to be "insulated or protected in the offense" I think maybe he should be. And how much of that is on him vs. the design of the game plan? Davis admitted after the 49er game he needs to do a better job of taking the underneath stuff, rather than always looking for the "splash" play and forcing the ball deep.

This stat is the only one that sticks out to me:

Pass Attempts:
vs. Minnesota 23 ( 2nd half only)
vs. Tampa Bay 29
vs. Dallas 42
vs. Philadelphia 49
vs San Francisco 42 (including a 10 for 28 performance in the 2nd half)
vs. Seattle 21

Any coincidence that they won the Tampa and Seattle game?

 

[BigRamFan]

Bradford has not been known for his accuracy since he has been in the NFL. And he wasn't breaking records this pre season. Davis is a more accurate QB and has "thrown WR's open" as they say several times so far. He just throws the ball better IMO, and lots of others see it the same way.

Salary and Davis playing well is what will make Bradford obsolete, unless he is willing to take a big reduction in salary.

I wonder what is going on in Sneads mind, Demoff and Fisher too. I wonder if they are having closed door conversations starting with "What do we do if he plays like this for the rest of the year".

Odd, all I've ever heard about Sam's attributes were how his arm strength and accuracy were elite talent level. You mean NFL preseason records? Not sure I even know what those are. What I do know is that when watching him in very limited action this preseason missed nearly nothing and his arm was lively, placing passes between defenders that, again IMO, Davis probable will never be to replicate. The TD pass to Kendricks in PS week 2 comes to mind. Hopefully A. Davis raises the Lombardi trophy with the rest of our Rams this year, but to tout him as more accurate or more talented than SB is just wrong, IMO. I would welcome, as I am sure Sam would, an open QB competition in training camp next year. If healthy, Sam wins that 10 out of 10 times.