buckle up....this kid has had a wild path to the NFL...
from Dane Brugler's The Beast:
9. RAY DAVIS | Kentucky 5'083" | 211 lbs. | 5th Yr SR San Francisco, Calif. (Blair) 11/11/1999 (age 24.92) #1
BACKGROUND:
Re’Mahn “Ray” Davis, who has 14 siblings, was born in the Hayes Valley area of San Francisco. His biological parents spent multiple stretches in prison, so Davis lived in homes of extended family and friends and in homeless shelters during his childhood. Davis entered the foster care system and became a ward of the state at age 8. At age 8, he lived for two months in the basement of General Hospital in San Francisco. He then moved into the apartment of one of his teachers for a period before living with his grandmother. Sports — specifically, basketball and football — served as an escape.
Davis enrolled at Lincoln High School as a freshman in 2014 and played running back and safety. He also played basketball, and a teammate’s parents (Lora Banks and Greg Ley) offered him assistance and later became his guardians. Banks helped Davis apply to Trinity-Pawling School, a boarding school in eastern New York known for its athletic programs. BobbyLayne note - that's a $70K /year prep school, but they have endowed athletic scholarships. Around the same time, Davis’ father (Raymond Sr.) was released from jail. He rebuilt his life and his relationship with his then 16-year-old son, and he eventually was awarded full custody of Ray. After the court system approved him to leave the state, Davis enrolled at Trinity-Pawling as a sophomore in 2015. After two seasons as a complementary running back and defensive back, he became the starting quarterback as a senior (and added a pair of interceptions). He also lettered in basketball and baseball at Trinity Pawling and joined the track team as a junior, setting personal bests of 11.17 seconds in the 100 meters and 18 feet, 11.5 inches in the long jump. Davis started to get recruited by FBS programs, but he was one credit shy of NCAA eligibility and enrolled at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. , for a postgraduate year. Playing as a quarterback and cornerback, Davis was named 2018 Conference Player of the Year with 1,698 rushing yards on 168 carries (10.1 average) and 35 total touchdowns in eight games.
A three-star recruit, Davis was the No. 116 running back in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 41 recruit in New Jersey. He picked up a few FCS offers (Albany andTowson among them), then Purdue offered him after he attended a camp in June 2018. However, that fell offer through, and Davis instead committed to Temple over Kent State and Navy. He enrolled early and was the No. 10 recruit in the Owls’ 2019 class. After leading Temple in rushing in 2019 and 2020, he transferred to Vanderbilt for a chance to play in the SEC. (Banks and Ley also moved to Nashville to further support him.) After two seasons with the Commodores, Davis entered the transfer portal again. Considered a package deal with transfer quarterback Devin Leary, Davis (and Leary) transferred to Kentucky for the 2023 season.
Raymond Sr. was a high school star in football, basketball, baseball and track and was inducted into the Galileo High School Hall of Fame (he holds the school record for most touchdowns in a season, one spot ahead of O.J. Simpson). Raymond Sr. signed with San Jose State in 2002 to play foot ball and played at College of Marin.
Ray Davis graduated with his degree in communications from Vanderbilt (December 2022) and earned his certificate in business and economics from Kentucky (December 2023). He accepted his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl.
YEAR (GP/GS) CAR YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD NOTES
2019: (12/6) 193 936 4.8 8 15 181 12.1 2 Temple; Led team in rushing; Enrolled in January 2019; Sat out spring (eligibility issues)
2020: (4/4) 78 308 3.9 1 12 62 5.2 0 Temple; Led team in rushing; Pandemic-shortened season; Missed three games (injury)
2021: (3/3) 44 211 4.8 1 5 27 5.4 0 Vanderbilt; Missed final nine games (toe); Enrolled in January 2021
2022: (12/12) 232 1,042 4.5 5 29 169 5.8 3 Vanderbilt; Led team in rushing
2023: (13/13) 199 1,129 5.7 14 33 323 9.8 7 Kentucky; Second team All-SEC; Led team in rushing and rec. TDs; Enrolled in January 2023
Total: (44/38) 746 3,626 4.9 29 94 762 8.1 12
HT WT HAND ARM WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP
COMBINE 5083 211 8 7/8 30 1/4 72 1/4 4.52 2.67 1.62 35 9’11” 4.51 - - (no 3-cone or bench press — choice)
PRO DAY 5082 208 9 1/4 30 1/4 72 3/4 - - - - - 4.33 - 21 (shuttle, bench, drills only — choice)
STRENGTHS: Short with a muscular, athletic build … uses his change-of-direction skills to make abrupt lateral cuts away from tackling angles … quick, controlled feet at the line to cut back or accelerate through holes with urgency … has the vision to play a few moves ahead and string cuts together at all three levels (12 runs of 20-plus yards in 2023) … will drops his pads and attack contact with balance and authority … displays natural receiving traits with quick eyes/hands to handle fastballs …seven receiving touchdowns in 2023 led Kentucky and ranked No. 1 among all FBS running backs … fumbled only twice over his three seasons in the SEC … remarkable story of determination and overcoming adverse circumstance while staying positive (NFL scout: “He chose betterness over bitterness. Talk about being dealt a rough hand. He overcame and did it with a smile.”) … set the Kentucky single -season record with 21 total touchdowns, which ranked No. 3 in the FBS.
WEAKNESSES: Lacks ideal top-end speed and doesn’t have a pull-away gear … instinctive first move is to work laterally, which will get him in trouble versus NFL defenses … always in attack mode, but he could use more patience to allow blocks/lanes to develop … below-average setup, technique and sustain as a pass blocker (see his 2023 South Carolina tape) … missed the final nine games of his junior season at Vanderbilt after tearing a ligament in his toe (September 2021), which required surgery … doesn’t offer any value on special teams, either as a returner or on coverages … will turn 25 during his rookie season … accumulated 840 offensive touches in his college career and faces wear-and-tear questions.
SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Kentucky, Davis was the main offensive weapon in offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s gap-focused scheme. His journey is worthy of a Hollywood script, but he is much more than just a feel-good story and played his best football in 2023, becoming the first college football player ever to rush for1,000-plus yards at three different FBS programs (Temple, Vanderbilt, Kentucky). With his quick reads and lateral agility, Davis will juke defenders out of their cleats using dynamic plant-and-go cuts (his performance against Florida in 2023 might be the best running back tape in this class). Though he needs to remedy his issues in pass protection, he is a dependable pass catcher and recorded at least one reception in all 25 games he played the past two seasons.
Overall, Davis has racked up a lot of miles and lacks explosive long speed, but his vision, cutting skills and competitive toughness are translatable traits. Although he doesn’t offer much on special teams, he can be a productive rotational back for an NFL offense.
GRADE: 4th Round
edit - sorry if I missed any format cleanup, the Beast is a hot mess to copy pasta from (but a treasure trove of nuggets, so it's worth it)