I said this during that draft, you don’t move up close to the top 10 draft picks to take an overweight, part time player that will never be a pass rusher, just because he ran a fast 40 for a fat guy. Period. That isn’t Davis’ fault… that is Howie’s mistake.
Howie had just come out of a decade where none of his first round picks had done a thing (culminating with the tragic pick of Reagor over Justin Jefferson). He had picked a star SEC player the year before (DeVonta Smith) and it had seemingly worked, so he just decided to go all in on SEC players from a big SEC school. Davis was all the talk from running a sub 5.0 40 at the combine, and Howie traded up (!) for him.
It was a dumb move for a guy that should never play more than about 25 snaps, will never rush the QB, had always gotten by on just being a huge person, and will rarely use the speed that made you draft him in the first place. But again, that is Howie’s fault, not Davis’.
I can see using a first round pick on a guy like that, but it shouldn’t be anywhere close to the top 10 picks, and to trade up for him is a huge waste of draft resources. Howie was acting like the fans do when they go Gaga for a big guy that ran a fast 40. It was dumb.
Howie’s run on big name SEC guys in early rounds just highlights his problems with the draft. He’s fine for free agency, once guys have proven they can play in the NFL… I’m sure he can tell now that Jefferson is better than Reagor, just like everyone else can. Howie just uses Lurie’s money for that.
But Roseman has little business running a draft.