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Daewood Davis

Latest On Panthers’ Wide Receiving Corps

July 5th, 2024 at 10:04pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen had an excellent 2024 campaign, reminiscent of some of his best seasons with the Vikings. Besides the 33-year-old’s standout effort, rookie quarterback Bryce Young didn’t get much help throughout a rocky first season. As a result, the Panthers made two big moves to augment the receiving corps this offseason, requiring recent high draft picks to show up soon or, perhaps, get pushed out.

After Thielen’s 103-reception, 1,014-yard, four-score effort, the next-best receiving performances were from free agent addition DJ Chark (35 receptions-525 yards-5 touchdowns) and second-round rookie Jonathan Mingo (43-418-0). Rounding out the room, former second-round pick Terrace Marshall (19-139-0), former Jaguars second-round pick Laviska Shenault (10-60-0), Ihmir Smith-Marsette (8-51-0), and Mike Strachan (1-45-0) each provided minimal contributions in Young’s rookie year.

Besides Shenault, that entire group returns in 2024. Thielen will obviously remain a starter, though he may be challenged by trade acquisition Diontae Johnson for the WR1-role. Johnson averaged about 872 yards and five touchdowns per year over five seasons in Pittsburgh. Putting forth an average season would already provide a significant upgrade to the room.

Joining Johnson as a newcomer to the group is first-round draft pick Xavier Legette. An explosive but inexperienced weapon out of South Carolina, Legette brings an air of mystery to the Panthers. Legette spent four years with the Gamecocks before finally becoming a main contributor as a redshirt senior, totaling more in 2023 (71-1,255-7) than he did in the four prior years combined (42-423-5).

Barely making it into the first round as the 32nd overall selection in this year’s draft, Legette will be competing with the team’s two former second-round picks in his rookie season for the WR3 job. While Marshall has had trouble staying on the field since getting drafted out of LSU, missing at least three games in each year including eight last year, his second season stats (28-490-1) resembled Mingo’s rookie numbers, but he was mostly a non-factor during his other two seasons. Mingo could certainly take step forward in Year 2, but he’ll now be forced to outperform Legette in training camp to remain a starter.

One under the radar addition that could prove effective is UFL star Daewood Davis. A former undrafted free agent for the Dolphins out of Western Kentucky, Davis caught 41 passes for 446 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games with the Memphis Showboats. If he uses that pro experience to enhance his offseason performance in 2024, Davis could make a strong play for a roster spot and, perhaps, even a role in the receiver-rotation.

Regardless, Carolina’s 2024 receiving corps looks to be much improved from the group fielded by the Panthers in 2023. Thielen and Johnson figure to form a strong, experienced duo atop the depth chart. Past those two, Carolina just needs one of Legette, Mingo, Marshall, Davis, or another to step up and provide a strong WR3 for Young.

UFL Rumors: Davis, Saylors, Butler

June 16th, 2024 at 8:19pm CST by Ely Allen

As the 2024 UFL season comes to an end this weekend with the championship game between the Birmingham Stallions and San Antonio Brahmas, players in the league are now able to work out with NFL squads and should be able to begin signing NFL contracts starting Tuesday. We’ve already seen a number of names pop up as potential NFL signees to look out for this upcoming week.

One of the earliest names we saw was that of wide receiver Daewood Davis, who Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports is expected to sign with the Panthers pending a physical. Davis played at Oregon for three years in college, failing to crack the starting lineup before transferring to Western Kentucky, where he immediately blew up as a difference maker. His efforts with the Hilltoppers didn’t get him drafted, but Davis signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dolphins. He was waived with an injury designation in final roster cuts last year but found his way to the Memphis Showboats of the UFL.

In 10 games with the Showboats, Davis caught 41 passes (6th in the UFL) for 446 yards (7th) and five touchdowns (tied-2nd). His efforts earned him one of three wide receiver spots on the inaugural All-UFL Team. If everything works out as expected, Davis could join a two-deep that currently includes Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen, first-round rookie Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo, Terrace Marshall, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

Here are a couple other UFL rumors from recent days:

  • Davis isn’t the only receiver the Panthers are looking at out of the UFL. Per Rapoport, Carolina also worked out the league’s leading receiver Hakeem Butler before they went to summer break. Butler is the oldest of the group we’re reporting on tonight and is the only drafted player. Butler was a fourth-round pick for the Cardinals back in 2019 after an incredible junior year at Iowa State that saw him catch 60 balls for 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns. A preseason broken hand kept Butler out of his rookie season, and he was waived before his sophomore campaign. The Eagles signed him and tried to convert him to a tight end, but he failed to stick in Philadelphia, as well, getting waived before the 2021 NFL season. Butler spent the next year in the Canadian Football League before signing with the Battlehawks when they were still in the XFL. He spent a short offseason stint with the Steelers this past year before finding his way back to the Battlehawks after failing to make the 53-man roster in Pittsburgh. In his second stint with the team, Butler joined Davis as two of three All-UFL Team receivers, leading the league with 652 receiving yards on 45 catches and five touchdowns.
  • Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reports that the Giants are set to host Battlehawks running back Jacob Saylors this Tuesday. Signing as an undrafted free agent with the Bengals last year out of East Tennessee State, Saylors was waived in final roster cuts this past August before spending a bit of time on the Falcons’ practice squad. In nine games with St. Louis, Saylors led the UFL’s running backs with 460 rushing yards (trailing only Stallions quarterback Adrian Martinez for the league lead) while tying for second in rushing touchdowns with five. Saylors joined Davis and his St. Louis teammate, Butler, as the only running back on the All-UFL Team. After watching Saquon Barkley depart in free agency, New York may look to add Saylors to a stable that currently includes veteran Devin Singletary and first- and second-year backs Eric Gray, Jashaun Corbin, and Tyrone Tracy.

Dolphins Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 29th, 2023 at 10:34pm CST by Ben Levine

The Dolphins began trimming their roster yesterday, cutting 14 players. That made today’s daunting task a bit more bearable, but the team still had to cut a number of players to get to the 53-player roster limit:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on IR:

Nik Needham, a 2019 UDFA out of UTEP, has spent his entire career with the Dolphins, appearing in 51 games (27 starts). He started five of his six appearances in 2022 before landing on IT in October with a torn Achilles tendon. His placement on PUP means he can’t make his season debut until at least Week 5.

Tight end Tyler Kroft signed with the Dolphins back in May, but the veteran was unable to beat our younger options for a roster spot. Kroft has seen time in 92 career games (52 starts), hauling in 105 catches for 1,081 yards and 13 touchdowns. He spent the 2022 campaign with the 49ers, collecting four receptions in 11 games (four starts).

Dolphins Sign 21 UDFAs

May 13th, 2023 at 12:44pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins had to add a large number of undrafted free agents after finishing the 2023 draft with only four selections. Here are the rookies that will join the four-man draft class:

The Dolphins added a number of prospects who played in the South Florida area, either in college or high school. Scaife did both, starting 52 games for the Hurricanes at guard and tackle after a high school career at Miami Southridge. His teammate, Agude, only spent one season as a Hurricane after transferring over from UCLA. Charlton was a high school teammate of Scaife’s and spent time at UCF before transferring to Mississippi State.

Additionally, Blackman went to high school just south of Lake Okeechobee in South Bay before making starts at Florida State and Arkansas State. The lanky quarterback comes in as QB4 behind Tua Tagovailoa, Mike White, and Skylar Thompson. Davis went to Deerfield Beach in South Florida before transferring from Oregon to Western Kentucky. Davis brings some interesting versatility, playing cornerback for the Ducks before catching 15 touchdowns over two years as a Hilltopper receiver. Finally, Smith grew up in West Palm Beach before transferring from Ole Miss to Kentucky.

After Thomas Morstead‘s short stint as the team’s punter, Miami signed former Patriot Jake Bailey. Bailey missed some time in New England with both injury and suspension, so perhaps Turk’s signing here is a backup plan to stash on the practice squad in case Bailey misses more time next season.