Cal safety Ashtyn Davis has made it to the NFL, drafted by the New York Jets with the 68th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the fourth pick of the third round.
At Cal, Davis walked on to the track team, with the hopes of walking onto the football team as well. He reached out repeatedly to current assistant athletic director Andrew McGraw, a native of Santa Cruz like Davis, to try and find to earn a spot on the team.
In addition to a track career that saw him become a four-time All-American in the 110 hurdles, Davis redshirted during the 2015 season prior to seeing his first playing time in 2016, eventually earning a start at cornerback in a season ending win over UCLA. He moved to safety when Justin Wilcox became Cal's head coach, and excelled at the position, playing in 36 of 38 possible games over his final three seasons, starting 30 of them.
Davis finished his Cal career with 166 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 7 interceptions, 12 passes deflected, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 forced fumbles, along with a 2nd team all-Pac 12 selection in 2019.
Davis is the first Bear to be drafted within the first three rounds since Davis Webb in 2017.
The Santa Cruz native was set to compete at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine, but an abductor injury kept him from competing at both of them. Cal's Pro Day was also cancelled, so Davis didn't have the opportunity to showcase his speed for pro scouts in those settings. He did interview at the NFL combine, along with putting up 14 reps of 225 pounds on the bench.
A Pac-12 Network produced documentary is below:
Davis played most of his time at Cal as a safety that can play the deep third of the field, playing more than half his reps at the free safety, but he's known to be a willing tackler in the box, and his previous corner experience has allowed him to move into the slot on occasion.
Davis was Cal's third highest graded defender in 2018 (behind Evan Weaver and Jordan Kunaszyk), a year that saw him rank second on the Bears with 4 interceptions, and this hit against BYU.
If Jaylinn Hawkins is also drafted, it will be the first time since 2013 that two Cal DBs get taken in the same draft (Steve Williams and Marc Anthony)
The full Zoom interview with Davis is below.
