After participating in informal workouts with New Orleans Saints players throughout most of last month, Tulane sophomore safety Kyle Davis has a newfound perspective on the skills and savvy of NFL players.
It’s one thing to think you know how talented athletes are at “the next level,” as college players like to say, but quite another to run on the same field with them.
“Those are all grown men out there,” Davis said over the weekend. “They’re in their prime and have been doing this a while. To them, football is second nature. They didn’t have to think about what they were doing.”
Davis, a 2010 Reagan High School graduate who has a good chance of starting for the Green Wave this season, worked closely with Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins during the workouts at Tulane.
“I learned about technique from Malcolm Jenkins, the little tricks no one pays attention to and why he is so great,” Davis said. “I saw what he does to get better.”
The Saints got together at Tulane, which is in New Orleans, because the NFL lockout prohibits players from using team facilities during the labor dispute between team owners and the NFL Players Association.
“Almost the whole team was there,” Davis said. “When they work out, they don’t focus on the lockout. It was a fast tempo. They got in and got out.”
The players-only practices were organized by quarterback Drew Brees, who played high school football at Austin Westlake before going to Purdue.
“Drew Brees is a very cool guy, one of the coolest guys on the team,” Davis said. “He treated us like we were part of his team. He included us in what they were doing. He called the workouts and you can tell he’s the leader of the team.”
Davis and a handful of his teammates worked out with the Saints on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in June after taking part in Tulane’s strength and conditioning workouts.
“The Saints started coming in around 9 in the morning, after we were done with our workout, and about five or six of us decided we could get some pointers from these guys,” Davis said.
Davis had an opportunity to see Brees work his craft when he participated in 7-on-7 drills with the Saints players.
“He can take the snap, look at the right side of the field and then throw to the left,” Davis said. “He does a great job of looking you off.”
Davis spent a few weeks with his family in San Antonio after the spring semester ended in May, and returned to New Orleans on June 1.
He played in 10 of Tulane’s 12 games last season, when the Green Wave finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in Conference USA. Davis, 5-foot-11 and 204 pounds, is competing against senior Taylor Echols for the starting spot at strong safety.
Recruited heavily by Texas Tech and Kansas as a senior, Davis saw his hopes of playing in the Big 12 dashed when Tech coach Mike Leach was fired and KU coach Mark Mangino resigned.
“I had to change my perspective a little,” Davis said.
Davis chose Tulane – his parents, Angela and Kurt Davis, were born and raised in New Orleans – over Air Force, Navy, North Texas, Richmond and UTSA.
Born in Dallas, Davis moved to San Antonio with his family before he started the seventh grade. He was one of the area’s top players as a junior and senior at Reagan, and finished with 19 interceptions in three seasons on the varsity.
Davis had good things to say about UTSA’s fledgling program and its players, particularly Roosevelt graduates Crosby Adams, Brandon Armstrong and Dominique Henderson.
“I grew up playing with those guys and they can play football,” Davis said. “UTSA is going to be a force to be reckoned with once they get over those growing pains.”
