No, I'm not kidding!
Nate Davis, QB of the 9-0, No. 17 Ball State Cardinals, could be one of the first QBs taken in the 2009 NFL Draft!
While many college football fans may be unaware of this fact, the MAC (Mid-American Conference) is known for producing some pretty good NFL-caliber quarterbacks in recent years.
If Davis, who is a junior, decides to turn pro after this season, many experts project him to be around the third-best QB prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft, behind only Georgia's senior QB Matthew Stafford and Florida's Tim Tebow, also a junior.
Overall, next year's class isn't very deep or strong at the quarterback position, so it would be a bit surprising if Davis doesn't declare himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft.
The nation as a whole may not have been aware of how good Davis and his Ball State Cardinals are, but their appearance on ESPN2 on Wednesday night in a nationally broadcast game surely changed that for those who watched.
In case you didn't see the game, you can watch the highlights by CLICKING HERE.
The 6'2", 222-pound Davis led the Cardinals to a 45-14 dismantling of Northern Illinois. He threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns, making precision passes all over the field while adding to his personal highlight reel.
For the season, Davis has thrown for 2,358 yards and 19 touchdowns to only five interceptions, along with a QB rating of 167 and a pass completion percentage of 68. He has also rushed for 114 yards and two scores.
If you still doubt Davis' potential to be a high draft pick and NFL star coming from the MAC, allow me to do a little "From MAC QB to NFL QB" name-dropping!
Omar Jacobs, BGSU: NFL 5th Round (164th overall, 2006)
Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo: NFL 6th Round (194th overall, 2006)
Charlie Frye, Akron: NFL 3rd Round (67th overall, 2005)
Josh Harris, BGSU: NFL 6th Round (187 overall, 2004)
Byron Leftwich, Marshall: NFL 1st Round (7th overall, 2003)
Chad Pennington, Marshall: NFL 1st Round (18th overall, 2000)
Lastly, you may have heard of this guy. He's considered one of the best quarterbacks currently in the NFL.
Ben Roethlisberger, Miami-OH: NFL 1st Round (11th overall, 2004)
Granted, not all of these players went on to NFL stardom, but be aware that many of them were projects drafted in the latter rounds with very little investment.
Davis will be coveted should he come out early and will be a first day pick and most likely a first round pick.
Some of the greatest NFL players of all time have come from non-powerhouse and somewhat unknown smaller schools where most of the nation never had heard of them.
Jerry Rice, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Jack Lambert, and Eric Dickerson are all NFL Hall of Famers from programs similar to Ball State.
Nate Davis may just be the next in line on this path.
Keep watching!
Thanks for reading. Please post a comment!
HD
Here's Davis on a rushing TD vs. Toledo.
6 comments Last one added 4 months ago — Leave a Comment
A S 8 months ago
Hmm.
Why not?!
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Dhaval Patel 7 months ago
I like his game, he is a pocket passer with great mobility, and a proven pocket passer at that. Also do not forget Drew Willy in Buffalo he is probably the most pro style quarterback in the MAC. Last night if you look past all of those fumbles he was throwing some sublimely accurate passes in tight spaces. I am guessing he is going to stick around for his senior season, since many skill players at BSU are still going to be around next year and take another stab at this.
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Cameron Williamson 4 months ago
This to me is an absolute joke. For starters I have been to ball state this year multiple times to visit my girlfriend and when I saw this team play I could almost promise you that they would get beaten by my St. Xavier Bombers high school team that graduated 08... please understand that the lvl of competition this guy plays was a bunch of scrubs, not to say he cant pass or anything but try and think of it this way. In the NBA players such as kobe or lebron who come staight out of highschool are athletic freaks and obviously very good at what they do. Nate Davis could be compared to them in that the lvl of competition he plays is arond the high school lvl but his overall talent, athleticism, and decision making has NEVER been tested by anything even close to the proffesional lvl. I can only wonder what kind of idiot coaching staff of orginization would even give this dirty sanches a chance its almost laughable.
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HD Handshoe -- BlockONation.com 4 months ago
It's not all about who he's played against but rather his natural ability and Davis has it
Thanks for the 'classy' post Cam (sarcasm)
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Patrick Swan 4 months ago
You are completely right. Those NFL scouts must be idiots. They should definitely overlook someone's ability and look only at who they play. After all, if Lebron or Kobe had gone to a mid-major that would have automatically made them bad because of the competition they face, right? Get a clue. Your saying St. X could play with any D-1 school already shows you don't know squat. You could have stopped there and everyone could have assumed you were an idiot without your proving it throughout the rest of your post.
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Becky 4 months ago
Nate is an athletic freak of nature. I think he was picked Mr. Basketball from his class in Ohio's basketball. One time he was playing in this 3 on 3 tournament and he was just dribbling around the half court line, in a game, and decided to shoot a half court shot. Oh yeah, he made it with easy. To say this guy is not an athlete is an all around joke. Also, to compare him to basketball players is a bit crazy. If you watch him play, if he didn't have anyone to throw to he would create something and make it happen. He lost the top reciever in the nation to injury and still had a pretty good season. *losing the MAC championship and to Tulsa were both big blows* Look at Ball State before nate and what Nate has done since he had been there. Ben Rothlisburger-esk i would say......
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