Carlton Davis: The Confident, Physical, Corner the Lions are Betting Their History On
The Detroit Lions traded for Carlton Davis this week, resting hope on him to save the cornerback room and spring them towards their first ever Super Bowl
Confidence.
That’s what seems to stick out the most about cornerback Carlton Davis according to those who have watched him over the past six years for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Davis, a big framed 6’1. 206 lb corner, was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft. He was a part of a young and highly impressive defense the Bucs built in the late 2010s — joining other stars such as Sean Murphy-Bunting, Antione Winfield Jr., Vita Vea and Devin White.
The culmination of the defense came in the 2020 NFL playoffs, where the Bucs’ defense defeated Drew Brees’ New Orleans Saints, Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs en route to a Super Bowl title. While Tom Brady impressively winning another ring in his first season down in West Florida captured headlines, it was the impressive play of the defense that truly made the difference during that run.
“We’re the best defense in the NFL. If you disagree with that, just check the tape,” Davis told reporters in between puffs of a celebratory cigar during his post-Super Bowl presser.
The Chiefs seemed to be at the peak of their powers entering the Super Bowl. Mahomes was looking for a repeat and had prime Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce alongside him entering the game. It was shaping up to be a shoot out.
Instead, it was a dud. Mahomes was shut down, only throwing for 270 yards, a majority in garbage time, and failing to find the end zone in a 31-9 drubbing. Hill failed to get involved until late in the game, catching seven passes for 73 yards.
Even more impressive, the Bucs defense managed it after being run out of the stadium by the Chiefs earlier in the season, as Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three scores in a week 12 Chiefs win. Hill had a career day, catching 13 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns. Davis was on Hill for much of that day, with the then 25-year-old sophomore getting a true trial by fire in the league.
“All the talk. All the outside noise. Everything the media was saying all week. We never paid attention to it. We knew who we was,” Davis said about the lead up to the Super Bowl, where many expected the late-November regular season match up to repeat itself.
Davis, alongside Murphy-Bunting and Winfield Jr. formed a squad the “grave-diggers” for the Bucs secondary — and did just that to Hill and the Chiefs receivers that Sunday afternoon.
“It was never about Tyreek Hill… it was always about us.”
Davis, now 27, was reportedly traded to the Detroit Lions on Monday, with the deal expected to become official Wednesday. His seventh NFL season will be his first outside of the confines of Raymond James Stadium. It will also be the first up north for the Florida-native who played college ball at Auburn.
He will step in as the CB1 of a team with Super Bowl aspirations. In some ways, the hope of generations of Detroit Lions fans now rests on his shoulders. After the team crashed out of the NFC Championship game last, this offseason is do-or-die for general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell. Cornerback was the biggest need this offseason, and Davis is the man they are betting the franchise on.
Greg Auman, who covers the Buccaneers for Fox Sports, told Bird’s Eye Football that Davis absolutely has what it takes to step into the role as CB1, he just needs to stay healthy.
“There are times when he has an absolute lock down corner and it's gone up against some of the best in the league and shut them down,” Auman said. ”But at the same time, he's also been injured for spells and been missing at times.”
Davis still has not played a full NFL season over the first six years of his career. He missed five games last year, and a total of 23 games since 2018. The corner has never suffered a significant season-ending type blow, but the small issues built up into a lot of time where the Busc’ best corner is off the field.
He signed a three year deal worth $45 million with the Bucs in 2022. Entering a contract year, his injury history and the presence of younger, cheaper, guys on the roster have made Davis a trade candidate for Tampa Bay, Auman says, getting something back instead of losing him for free next year.
Detroit reportedly sent the 92nd overall pick to Tampa for Davis and two sixth rounders in return. The corner carries a cap hit of $14.4 million this year, though the Lions could lessen that figure if they choose to extend him.
Davis is best in press man coverage. A physical corner who likes to hound opposing receivers and beat them up at the line of scrimmage. He is strong at the point of attack — credited with 73 passes defended in 76 career games — but can’t catch. He drops many interceptions, snagging just nine so far in his career, which Auman says was a point of frustration for Bucs head coach Todd Bowles.
While he’s best in press man, Davis is also a decent corner in off-man and zone coverage.
“As a football player you pride yourself in everything you do. I’m a complete corner. I don’t care if I play on or off[coverage], I’m just trying to get the job done at the end of the day,” he told reporters last year about his versatility.
Davis’ job for the Bucs each week was to shadow the opposing receiver and shut him down. He was not perfect, but had a few stand out performances.
“Carlton is a tremendously confident guy,” Auman continued. “Going up against a lot of really good receivers over the years, I can't think of very many he shied away from. [He] wanted to be on their best receiver and had that task a decent amount of his time here in Tampa. Whether that's Super Bowls, playoff games, you name it, I think he's been up to the task.
Among the most notable came in December 2022, where he covered Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase on 83% of routes and held him to three catches for 32 yards. A year later, Chase would tell NBC that Davis was the toughest defensive back he has ever faced.
“He was longer than I expected, longer arms. He just ain’t got no knee bend. He just hunched his back over and played defense,” Chase said of Davis, “He made some good plays on me, so I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one.”
Tampa was still a team that played a lot of zone coverage last year, at around 80% of defensive snaps. This led to some struggles for Davis, who was graded at 58.2 out of 100 by PFF — or average, basically. The Bucs shifted into more shell coverage last season, leaving Davis in a scheme that didn’t fit his strengths.
“The Bucs got to a place last year where if they had five Carlton Davis’s out there, they'd be more comfortable playing more man. And I think they got away from that, and he’s probably not as good in [zone heavy] schemes,” Auman said.
In Detroit, Davis may find a place where he thrives. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has long orchestrated man-heavy defenses. While the Lions seemed to get away from that a bit last season, signing Cam Sutton and playing a lot of zone early in the year, they moved back towards an even man-zone split later in the season.
Deshea Townsend, a former NFL cornerback who joined the Lions coaching staff as a passing game defensive coordinator, said earlier this offseason that he was looking for the type of corner that fits Davis’ archetype.
“I’m just looking for guys that don’t shy away from contact, that’s willing to throw it there,” he told The Athletic.
Expect Davis to slide in as CB1 in Detroit, with Sutton shifted to CB2. I would not be surprised, however, if the Lions still opted to pick a corner high in the NFL draft and allowed the rookie to compete with Sutton for the starting job.
The Lions will also probably start 2024 as a man-heavy team. Davis slots in well alongside Kerby Joseph, the Lions third-year ball hawking free safety who likes to back-pedal himself to the goal line on every play. Davis is also not a great run defender — another sign that the Lions aren’t looking for someone to play a lot of zone coverage next season.