Colts selected Florida S Shawn Davis with the No. 165 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Davis (5'11/202) is the rare deep safety who can lay the wood. A two-year starter for the Gators, Davis wore a number of hats in the Gators defense, but often looked best when deeper in coverage from both split-field looks and as a single-high defender. Davis’ instincts in coverage can run hot and cold, but when he is “on,” he shows the range and ball skills to break up passes after covering an impressive amount of ground. Part of that is thanks to Davis’ ridiculously explosive athletic profile, as evidenced by clearing the 90th-percentile in both the vertical and broad jump. Not too many free safeties have Davis’ tackling prowess, so perhaps Davis could develop into a starting-quality safety in a few year’s time after ironing out how he sees the field, similar to a discount Eric Reid. Davis will be competing with none other than Sean Davis for reps as a rookie.