It’s been a rough road will quite a few speed bumps for Akeem Davis-Gaither. But it’s a road that still has light at the end of tunnel and the Bengals still believe that light is there, perhaps as early as this season.
Davis-Gaither, the Cincinnati Bengals fourth-draft pick out of Appalachian State in 2020, has begun working on adding more versatility to his game.
As noted by Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson, Davis-Gaither has started adding practice reps in the middle of the defense while Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt are rehabbing injuries. Keandre Jones has been working with Davis-Gaither.
“He’s a three-down backer and he’s getting better and better,” linebackers coach James Bettcher said. “I know he has the skills to play both. He’s grown up as a coach’s kid and you can feel that with his intelligence and his approach.”
Davis-Gaither is working back from an ACL injury in October, an injury he oddly believes was a “necessary” one.
“I was getting in a good groove and getting more confidence,” he said, via Paul Dehner of The Athletic. “This game is all about confidence. I was starting to really feel like I was getting there. Maybe the injury was necessary for me.
“It just added another chip on my shoulder,” he said. “Now I have to prove myself again. In my career, having a chip on my shoulder is revisited by the injury and staying out so long.”
Davis-Gaither now hopes to use that chip to prove why the Bengals took a chance on him in 2020 and that he can build off of his roles as a core special-teams player and become more of a chess piece on defense. Especially when he was having a very good 2021 season before the injury.
Per Dehner, “on third downs with at least 4 yards to go, Davis-Gaither and Wilson were the pair on the field for 45 of 85 snaps. Germaine Pratt had the next most with 11, according to TruMedia.”
Also from Dehner: “Pro Football Focus had Davis-Gaither improving on a rookie year grade of 40.7 to 60.2. The issue that held him back from a better overall performance was seven missed tackles, for a missed tackle rate of 21.9 percent. He had the third most missed tackles on the team by players with at least 200 snaps and the worst rate among linebackers by a long shot.”
The third year is typically a breakout season for many players. The stars could be aligning for that to happen with Davis-Gaither in his third season.
