June 01, 2022
As we do every offseason, we'll be comparing each of the Philadelphia Eagles' rookies to current or former NFL players. We'll start off the series by trying to find a comp for first-round defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
First, who did Davis say he patterned his game after?
"I used to look at Fletch when I was little. Fletch been playing since I started paying attention to football. It’s definitely nice to be in the same locker room as him, and get knowledge. I know I’ll be in good hands. I’m not really one for comparisons because everyone is different, but I try to bring a little influence from time to time and add a little knowledge to my book."
Throughout the draft process, we pointed to Davis as this year's "unicorn," or player that is unlike any we've ever seen. He's 6'6, 341, and he runs a 4.78 with a 10'3" broad jump. Go measure yourself in the broad jump if you have a free minute. It's easy enough to do. Have someone hold a measuring tape and let it rip. My guess is that most of you (no offense intended) will fall short of a 341-pounder's jump by two or three feet.
People with Davis' combination of size and athleticism simply don't exist in nature.
Jordan Davis is a DT prospect in the 2022 draft class. He scored an unofficial 10 RAS at the Combine out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 1325 DT from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/kiFBcmsByh #RAS via @Mathbomb pic.twitter.com/skIBhtmRs8
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 6, 2022
In fact, if you look up all the defensive tackles in NFL history who were at least 6'6 and 340 pounds, you'll only find six of them. Here are those six players with links to their spider charts:
If you clicked on any of those (especially anyone other than Branch), those guys were just big bodies who couldn't really move.
And so, finding a comparable player to Davis is quite difficult. The player I landed on is Albert Haynesworth. Of course, we remember Haynesworth for a lot of the wrong reasons, most notably when he stomped on Cowboys center Andre Gurode's face, or perhaps this embarrassing moment against the Eagles:
But for a few seasons with the Titans, Haynesworth was a beast. He was big, strong, and fast, and during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, he had 14.5 sacks in 27 games, earning first-team All-Pro honors both seasons, with second- and fourth-place finishes in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Davis was drafted 13th overall. Haynesworth was drafted 15th overall. Here are Haynesworth's pro day numbers from 2002 (via The Athletic), compared with Davis' Combine numbers:
| Measurables | Jordan Davis | Albert Haynesworth |
| Height | 6'6 | 6'5 5/8" |
| Weight | 341 | 317 |
| 40 yard dash | 4.78 | 4.82 |
| Vertical jump | 32" | 30" |
| Broad jump | 10'3" | 8'7" |
Again, it's hard to find a great match on that front because nobody in NFL history has Davis' combination of size and athletic testing measurables. But as far as play style goes, when he was at the top of his game, Haynesworth could win either with his brute size or his impressive quickness.
I believe Davis can be a bigger, more athletic, more personable, and much more motivated version of Haynesworth.
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