4-Star WR Drake Davis Models Game After Dez Bryant, Discusses Decision Timeline

BRADENTON, Fla. — There was a time when 4-star receiver Drake Davis envisioned playing futbol instead of football. 

The 6’4”, 215-pounder, who transferred from his native Louisiana to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, in the offseason, grew up playing left back and striker on the soccer field.

“When I was younger, I started playing at a very young age,” Davis explained to Bleacher Report of his affinity for the world’s most popular sport. “When I went to my first game, I kind of fell in love with it. It was a challenging sport, but at the same time, a lot of it came naturally to me. So soccer was something that challenged me, so I wanted to master it. When I became good at it, that love for soccer just grew.”

While he grew up admiring soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s switched gears and is now concentrating on becoming one of the most dominant wideouts in the 2016 class.

Even though he still maintains a love for soccer, he admits that his skills on the pitch have translated to his success on the gridiron in a few ways. 

“It got me a lot better with my footwork, so that was a great thing,” Davis said. “It helped with my footwork and helping me get in and out of my breaks. It gives you stamina, also.” 

His inspiration on the football field is another big, physical wideout who has emerged as one of the top playmakers in the NFL.

“Dez Bryant. He’s an animal. He’s my boy. I hope he reads this. Tag him in this,” Davis joked.

The nation’s No. 29 wide receiver and the No. 155 player overall in the 2016 cycle is in the middle of a strong senior season at IMG. 

With coaches from Ole Miss and LSU—two schools he said are currently standing out to him—on hand, Davis put on a show against Paramus Catholic (New Jersey) last weekend. His biggest highlight was hauling in an 87-yard touchdown strike that helped propel IMG to a 28-20 win. 

His last visit was two weeks ago to LSU for the Tigers' big victory over Florida. On that visit, he was accompanied by prep teammates such as 5-star corner and current LSU pledge Saivion Smith, 5-star defensive tackle Shavar Manuel and 4-star linebacker Rahshaun Smith.

“I was with a few of my teammates, so it was a really fun trip,” Davis said of his LSU visit. “I live there, so it’s nothing new really. But the fact that I was able to share that moment with my teammates, it was a great moment.” 

While Saivion Smith is working on trying to get Davis to join him in Baton Rouge, IMG quarterback and current Ole Miss pledge Shea Patterson is hoping to continue to connect with Davis in Oxford for the next four years.

“Shea and I, we’re great friends. Saivion is pitching me also, and he and Shea go back and forth,” Davis noted. “They don’t push it too hard, because we have a goal here and that’s to get a national championship. We all have one focus on our team.”

Davis said schools such as Clemson, Texas A&M and UCLA are among the programs he hopes to take official visits to. However, only one trip appears to be a definite at this point.

“I know for a fact I will visit Ole Miss when they play LSU,” he said. “I should be going to UCLA, but I’m not 100 percent sure about the others yet.”

Davis, who hopes to major in the business field in college and reports a 3.5 GPA, said the Rebels, Tigers and Aggies are the three programs who he feels like he’s established the strongest relationships with.

Still, he cautions that his official visits will be critical in helping him arrive at a conclusion to his recruiting process, which he said should come close to or on signing day.

“I want to visit all of the schools on my list,” Davis said. “So when I get there, I will know if I fit in there. I want it to feel like home because I’ll be there for the next three or four years.”

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand and all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @SanjayKirpalani