BY: MATTHEW SHALLOE
Although this article clearly focuses on the Buffalo Bills and rookie wide receiver Gabriel Davis, I hope the baseball reference in the title caught a chuckle or two from my readers. Anyways…
Last Saturday, the Bills placed WR John Brown on injured reserve with an ankle injury that he had suffered in a crushing blow to the Arizona Cardinals back in Week 10, meaning that he would be out for the next three games, which started with the win over the Chargers last Sunday. Brown is a guy who has played a crucial role in the development of Bills’ QB, Josh Allen, over the past two seasons. Still, without him on the field for at least the next two games (which will both be primetime games, believe it or not, Bills fans), someone needs to step up and take Brown’s place. Who is that person, you might ask? Gabriel Davis.
Davis has performed well for the Bills in his rookie season, catching 22 balls for 354 yards and four touchdowns to this point, and while he’s receiving more playing time as Brown lets that ankle heal, those numbers will only go up.
The Bills selected Davis in the fourth round in the 2020 NFL Draft, making him the 128th overall pick. He attended the University of Central Florida, where he played three seasons, showing drastic improvements each year. In his Junior season, his final season before entering the NFL draft, Davis tallied 72 catches for 1241 yards and 12 Touchdowns for the Knights. This earned him a spot on the American Athletic Conference (AAC) First Team honors.
At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Davis has more than decent enough size to be a great player in the NFL. He also recorded a 4.54 time in the NFL Combine’s 40 -yard dash, showing great speed to go along with that size he possesses on the outside. And at the age of just 21, he’s off to an early start to what has the chance to be an outstanding NFL career.
This past Sunday, in the first game since Brown was placed on IR, Davis was the leading receiver for the Bills with 79 yards on just three catches, including a touchdown reception from WR Cole Beasley and a beautiful leaping catch down the sideline for 44 yards.
The Bills coaching staff has made sure the rookie has received his credit multiple times throughout the season as head coach Sean McDermott has said on multiple occasions how impressed he is with the way the youngster handles himself and is always ready to go when called upon, which is only going to grow more often as he progresses.
There is no better time for Davis than now to show what he is truly capable of as an NFL Wide Receiver. He will be on the field taking a lot of meaningful snaps for a team trying to win the AFC East for the first time since 1995(!!!). Every snap for this team will mean something as they try to hold off the Miami Dolphins in the division, and Davis will play a huge role in doing so.
The next time Davis and the Bills (8-3) will take the field will be this Monday at 8:15 p.m., when they square off against the San Francisco 49ers (5-6) in a game that will be hosted in Arizona’s State Farm Stadium due to the Santa Clara restrictions on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com
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