On the surface, it may seem like Penn State having secured a commitment from four-star safety Jaylen Reed, the 10th-ranked safety in the country out of Detroit, Mich., and four-star athlete Zakee Wheatley, ranked as the 21st-best athlete in the country out of Maryland, would mean that the Nittany Lions have found their men in the back of the secondary and that Ohio State now has the line on Derrick Davis Jr. – the second-ranked safety and 44th-ranked overall player in the 2021 class out of Gateway (Pa.) High School.
While I have believed for a while that the Buckeyes are the favorite and that Davis will end up at Ohio State, Reed's commitment does not mean Penn State is out of the running for him. I believe the Nittany Lions will continue to be their biggest competitor right up until the day he makes a commitment and right up until the day he signs (and vice versa if he commits to Penn State).
Based on scouts' analysis of Reed, both Davis and Reed have pretty similar projections at the next level, but the more apt comparison would be Reed to Andre Turrentine.
Turrentine was recruited to be the same sort of roaming free safety/slot corner who can be moved around and utilized all over the field, and Reed was recruited to fill that same role for Penn State. 247Sports' Allen Trieu analyzed Reed, saying that, “Ultimately, a nickel, rover type role is likely his best fit along with traditional safety.”
In other words, the Nittany Lions landed their Turrentine with Reed's commitment.
And regarding Wheatley, he is similar to Buckeye athlete signee Cameron Martinez in the fact that Wheatley is able to play both sides of the ball but was recruited to be a safety. Just like Reed, Wheatley will be groomed as a roaming free safety who can be used in the slot.
Davis is also a player who can fill multiple roles, as he's aggressive and can play man-to-man while helping in the run game – even though Davis described himself to us as “more of a finesse player” because his best strength comes as being a crafty safety who uses excellent ball skills and cover abilities to neutralize receivers.
However, when the Buckeyes hosted Davis for his unofficial visit at the end of the last contact period, Ohio State's assistant secondary coach Matt Barnes brought Davis into the film room and laid out the blueprint for how they seem him translating to the next level.
“We talked about where he sees me playing on the defense, how to play certain plays in their playbook (and) how to play the different positions,” Davis told us following that visit. “One-high safety (and) playing the bullet (is where they see me). We got to see how the bullet plays on their defense and seeing how the high safety plays, how he gets off the hash, what drops to take.”
“The Mike linebacker’s the quarterback of the defense, but the safety’s also the quarterback. You’re the last line of defense so you’ve just gotta hold your own really.”– Derrick Davis Jr.
Davis said that film room session gave him more of a complete, clear idea of the type of interest the Buckeyes have for him, and he was enable to better envision what his future would be like in Columbus.
“Coach Barnes was telling me you could definitely start as a safety because playing the bullet position is a very important position to play, and not everybody can play it,” Davis said. “Him letting me know that, it just meant a lot.”
Tl;dr: Davis is seen as a one-high safety or bullet by Ohio State and Turrentine is a free safety/nickel corner, while Reed and Wheatley are each seen as free safeties who can play nickel corner. Neither team has filled its deep safety spot in the 2021 class.
Also wanted to touch on this: There has been some recent scuttle that Davis could end up as a running back in college.
Davis is an extremely talented runner, and he's got some great pass-catching skills with consistent hands. He's one of the top backs in the state of Pennsylvania, and he nearly eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards just seven games into the 2019 season. (Not to make this sound like clickbait, but in that link, you will find a story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Brad Everett in which Gateway head coach Don Holl compares Davis to former Buckeye star safety Malik Hooker.)
If he focused on running back, he could be a good collegiate back.
However, we asked Davis what position do you want to play in college? Without hesitation, he said safety. He realizes that playing defense is best for his future and that that side of the ball is his best bet to make a living playing in the NFL.
“The Mike linebacker’s the quarterback of the defense, but the safety’s also the quarterback,” Davis said. “You’re the last line of defense so you’ve just gotta hold your own really. You can’t be back there shy, either. You’ve gotta be vocal, and that’s one thing about myself is I’m very vocal on defense.”
Now, Davis could end up rounding out his frame and becoming an outside linebacker, but he would most likely be more of a Kourt Williams type of player who will still be used in the secondary instead of being a pure outside linebacker.
