Syracuse Football: 2017 Signee Patrick Davis adds Mean Streak to OL

Sep 9, 2016; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers walks on the field prior to the game against the Louisville Cardinals at the Carrier Dome. Louisville defeated Syracuse 62-28. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 9, 2016; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers walks on the field prior to the game against the Louisville Cardinals at the Carrier Dome. Louisville defeated Syracuse 62-28. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Syracuse Football team went north of the border for a special signee that should add some beef to the trenches for the Orange.

Continuing on with our player previews for Syracuse’s class of 2017, we head north of the border and break down Patrick Davis. Davis is rated three stars by most recruiting services.

It is hard to see what other schools offered, but Buffalo and North Dakota both displayed an interest . Davis played at Champlain Regional College in Quebec City, Quebec. One advantage of recruiting players from Canada is that they are often older.

You go to high school for 3 years, then attend a prep or boarding school for another two or three years. This means Davis will be a 21-year-old freshman. He will come in much stronger than most college freshman.

Davis has tremendous size, listed at 6-foot-5 and weighs around 300-pounds. This bodes well for Syracuse, as he has the size to compete with the big boys up front in the ACC. Davis is also a very versatile lineman. According to an interview with Co-Offensive Co-ordinator and offensive line coach Mike Lynch, Davis can also play center. Now let’s break down his film:

One of the first thing that jumps out to you is how quickly he reacts to block his opponent after snapping the ball. At the :20 second mark Davis gets off the ball well, and simply moves his defender creating a hole up the middle.

At the 1:14 mark, Davis is lined up at tackle and does a nice job of getting to the second level and taking out the linebacker. This allowed for a nice run, and once again his versatility is on display here.

One thing you must be able to do in order to play as a lineman at Syracuse is pass block. Davis

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displays his pass blocking at the 1:35 mark and also does a nice job in the clip immediately following.

If Davis wants to see the field he will have to be steady in his pass blocking. What may be the most impressive play on his tape occurs at the 2:08 mark. Davis, again shows off his versatility as he lines up at guard this time. This was designed because Davis is the pulling guard and his team is running a play where he must get off the line and immediately sprint to the opposite side of the line. Again, he gets the key block on the linebacker that allows his running back to get out in the open field and make plays.

Overall, Davis looks to be a very promising young lineman. He played all the positions on the offensive line in high school, but I think he could develop into a really nice guard for Syracuse.

With Syracuse’s screen game they like to have their tackles get out and make blocks in space, which might be a struggle for Davis at the Division one level. I do expect Davis to maybe even crack the starting lineup this year. The guards on last years team were a bit of a disappointment, if nothing less Davis will provide good competition.

Next: Syracuse Football Recruiting Sitdown: Nykeim Johnson

Check out the previews on Nykeim Johnson, Cam Jordan and stay tuned for more!