Lavel Davis Jr. spent all of last season watching Virginia football games from the sidelines in street clothes. A spring knee injury required a long rehabilitation road so that’s as close as he would get to the action.
There’s an old theory out there that sometimes players can learn a lot by watching, which seems to imply that little details about how to play can be absorbed and then applied later. For Davis, however, that’s not what he felt like he learned the most last season. In fact, it really wasn’t even specific on the field things at all.
“The biggest take-away? I feel like just being a great teammate,” Davis said. “It goes a long way. It’s more than just making a play on the field. It’s bigger than that. It’s how you treat people. Just trying to be a better leader. I feel like the little stuff, not so much on the field, but how you treat people and encouraging other people, encouraging your teammates. I feel like that’s been the biggest take-away. Even when you’re tired or feeling bad, not making it about yourself, more about the team. Really having the team mentality. That’s what I took from last season sitting out and just watching everybody play.”
On a separate day without prompting, Virginia receivers coach Marques Hagans chose the same thing when asked about the biggest area of growth for Davis last season. He’s now trying to shepherd through his return to full competition this spring.
“I think he grew as a teammate. Last year, he spent without football so who he became as a teammate, who he became as a person I think was his biggest opportunity for growth,” Hagans said. “Now he’s got the opportunity to go to back out in spring ball ... and everything’s not going to come together at once. He’s got to realize and understand he missed a whole year. So it’s been a year without him playing football and to think everything is going to be back in place by day two, that’s a pretty tall bill. I think encouraging him to continue to focus on the little things and to focus on the appreciation to be able to play the game again and just knowing that he’s not going to get 365 days back in 15 practices.”
Davis, of course, made a big splash for Virginia as a freshman. The South Carolina native came in during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and immediately put up some impressive numbers. He posted 20 receptions for 515 yards and 5 touchdowns, which included a 90-yard catch.
For context, that ranked No. 1 in the ACC And No. 2 in the nation at 25.75 yards per catch. He was No. 7 nationally among freshmen with those 515 receiving yards and he tied for No. 5 nationally among freshmen with those 5 receiving touchdowns. He was the only player to surpass 500 yards receiving that season on 20 or fewer catches.
A lot of that production, however, came from his size and athleticism vs. being a polished receiver. That’s not too surprising. As former coach Bronco Mendenhall liked to say that season, 6’7” is always open and Virginia often used him that way on the perimeter of the field.
Davis, though, wants to be more than that.
“My first year, I felt like it, I’m not going to say freestyle, but it was more you know you come straight out of high school and you’re trying to catch up with everybody in college and everything like that,” Davis said. “I feel like this season I can really show my talent, really show I’m one of the greats in college and one of the great receivers in the country. That’s what I really want to do is just hone in on my talent, really focus on the details, getting in and out of my routes, catching the ball away from my body with my hands, plucking the ball and just going up and getting it. Really showing that I’m a great receiver.”
The Cavaliers will be using a new system with new coaches this season so the numbers may not look the same as last season when the offense put up dizzying passing numbers or even the same as Davis’ freshman season. Still, he is returning to a good situation after his injury simply because he’s surrounded by highly productive and confident players.
Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong tops that list after he posted a record-breaking season last fall. That included two single season school records for passing yards (4,449) and passing touchdowns (31). Most of the weapons on the other end of those throws are back too with exceptions like tight end Jelani Woods, who is picking up steam in NFL Draft conversations, and receiver Ra’Shaun Henry, who put up some solid pro day numbers to help boost his chances. Dontayvion Wicks (1,203 yards/9 touchdowns), Keytaon Thompson (990 yards/1 touchdown), and Billy Kemp IV (725 yards/6 touchdowns) all return as does potential playmakers like Malachi Fields and Demick Starling.
That creates the possibility of getting Wicks and Davis on the field together for the first time and that raises the intrigue regardless of what the offensive scheme is for Virginia.
“I think both of them are very unique in how you communicate with them and what they feel and what they’ve been through,” Hagans said. “They were both primed to have great years two years ago and Tay broke his foot and Lavel emerged on the scene. Then Tay came back and Lavel tore his ACL and Tay had a pretty good year last year. Now for the first time really, they’re back on the field together. There’s a lot of things they’ll be able to push each other with, compete against each other with and just excited to have them on the field at the same time.”
That would be 6’1”, 206-pound Wicks and 6’7”, 224-pound Davis. That doesn’t even consider the attention that someone like Thompson at 6’4” and 210 pounds or Kemp at 5’9” and 172 pounds can do to challenge matchups. For Davis, it’s a full 15 pounds or more from his freshman playing weight by the way and he thinks that will help him as a receiver.
“It feels a lot better. I’m not getting pushed over by DBs,” Davis said. “I can just carry my weight a little bit more and not get pushed around by DBs or jammed up or anything. I feel like I’m a man out there on the field now.”
When you consider the personnel, it will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers create a new look this season. There’s been consistent discussion about providing a better balance from the rushing attack since Virginia coach Tony Elliott took over, for example, so if Armstrong can take advantage of the things all of those weapons can create, it offers all kinds of possibilities.
One of those is that Davis could be breakout star again. Already a matchup nightmare at 6’7”, he’s coming back more physical and potentially more polished as long as he can stay healthy. Davis talks like he’s on a mission to prove his ability.
His teammates notice that motivation and it should only add to what’s possible.
“He wants to be the best,” Thompson said. “He wants to put the work in and find ways to get better. And once he gets that, then he wants to find a new way to get better. If there’s one thing I can say about Lavel, he’s always focused and wants to improve his game. That’s what’s so special about him.”
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!