In the team hotel last Saturday night in Houston, the Lions were in the midst of their final special teams meeting ahead of their showdown with the Texans. Dan Campbell spied Carlton Davis III, slipped in behind him and said, "Man, one of the best moves we made was getting you here." On the national stage the next night, Davis snatched two second-half picks in Detroit's stirring comeback win.
Davis, Campbell said Monday, has been everything the Lions hoped for when they acquired him last offseason from the Bucs -- "and then some."
"There is nothing better than a cover corner who runs, hits, tackles, fills the run, no fear, and then you see what he’s able to do with those takeaways yesterday," Campbell said. "And he is good for that room, he is a veteran guy. He's a guy who's been around it for a while."
This is where Davis shakes his head and laughs. It feels like he's been a vet since he entered the NFL. It's a title he can't escape. He said he "became the old young head" in his second season in Tampa because the secondary was so green, and now he's the graybeard -- not literally -- in Detroit around defensive backs like Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw and Brian Branch. The other day, Davis was watching film when one of the TV announcers referred to him as "The old veteran."
"Hey dude, I’m 27, OK?" Davis said. "I’ve played a lot of ball, but it doesn’t mean I’m old. I’ve just been playing since I was a rookie. Like, what the hell?"
Davis was a starter from the moment he joined the Bucs as a second-round pick out of Auburn in 2018. He blossomed into an upper-echelon cornerback the next year and since ranks second in the NFL in passes defended (79) -- one behind Denzel Ward, who went fourth overall in Davis' draft class. The Lions badly needed a No. 1 corner after getting torched by No. 1 receivers down the stretch and into the playoffs last season, so they sent a third-round pick to Tampa and brought Davis to Detroit.
Davis oozed cool from the moment he arrived. He wore black shades to his introductory press conference and told reporters to "check the film" for proof of his prowess in man coverage: "Turn on me against top receivers and see their stats when I’m on them." Or just ask one: Ja'Marr Chase of the Bengals said last year that Davis is the best defensive back he's faced in the NFL. In OTA's this spring, Davis made it known that "I'm about to just lock sh*t up, excuse my French."
"You’ll see," he winked. "You’ll see."
Davis started slowly, as he learned the intricacies of Aaron's Glenn's defense and the tendencies of his new teammates in the secondary. He stood up in a battle with Seahawks star D.K. Metcalf on Monday Night Football in Week 4, and hasn't stood down. In his last six games, Davis has allowed a passer rating in coverage of 44.1, per PFF, best in the NFL. In his last three, 13.1. He has played the second most man-coverage snaps in the NFL this year -- only Arnold has played more -- and hasn't surrendered a touchdown or more than three catches in a game since Week 3.
On Friday, Davis was reminded of his words this spring. To wit: "I’m about to lock up No. 1 receivers, get my hands on some balls, get the ball back to our offense and play physical. And bring the energy." He smiled and said, "I would say that aged quite well."
"But that was my intention coming into it and my intentions haven’t changed. I don’t like to talk too much, but when I get asked a question, I’m gonna tell you how I feel," Davis said.
Through 10 weeks this season, the Lions have held opposing quarterbacks to the lowest passer rating (75.1) in the NFL -- the career equivalent of Dan Orlovsky (75.3). A lot of that owes to a pile of picks courtesy of Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, but also to this: Davis, Arnold and Amik Robertson have allowed a completion percentage in man coverage of just 54.3 percent.
"It’s just getting comfortable with the guys, with the chemistry, with the play calls. Understanding leverages, understanding how I can play certain things and then being myself within the defense," Davis said. "It’s kind of hard just coming in and hitting it off the rip in a new system, new guys, new city, new everything. I've just been grinding, and each week I’m climbing and growing and getting more comfortable and it’s opening up my ability to make plays. I can see it, everything is slowing to me now."
Davis pored over film last week, per usual, and noticed that the Texans liked to run out routes that turn into double moves down the sideline. He ceded a couple outs to Tank Dell early in the game, knowing that "I could've jumped it but it wasn't really my responsibility" based on the coverage and that it would work to his advantage if C.J. Stroud got comfortable making that throw -- "because I knew at some point, it was going to line up."
On the first play of the second half, after Campbell had implored his defense in the locker room to create a couple takeaways, Davis saw another out coming. He backed off of Dell to take away the potential double move, then jumped the route and came down with the pick.
"Great play call by AG," said Davis, "and just execution."
Arnold and Robertson owe Davis 100 push-ups each after he produced the first interception of the season for Detroit's corners. Actually, after Davis grabbed another later that quarter that wiped out a touchdown, "they owe me 1,000. I’ma need that today. You just reminded me, thank you." Arnold said he'd bang them out whenever, wherever. Asked about Davis, he said, "He's been like a great big brother to me."
"Just a great person to learn from, someone I can watch. Obviously he’s playing at a high level right now, and he inspires me to just continue to pick my play up," said the rookie first-round pick. "It gets you fired up."
Growing up, Davis was the little brother. He was also a linebacker, because his older brothers were linebackers and their dad was a linebacker before them. If he missed a tackle in a practice or a game, his dad would make him stay on the field afterward and tackle his brothers -- "I'm hitting against them, boom, boom, six, seven years old going up against bigger guys, just so I can be better."
"So that aggression is in me," Davis said. "It was like, bred into me."
Davis, who was born and raised in Miami, slimmed up when he got to high school. When he checked in around "a buck-50, buck-60," he laughed and said he realized, "Yeahhh, probably not a linebacker now." He switched to safety and let him tell you, "I was the most aggressive f**king safety, too."
"People come across the middle, cracking they ass. Like, that was my thing. That’s when they started calling me C-Murda. That’s when I earned the name because guys came across the middle, I would just take their head off, bang. And in run lanes, the guy breaks, come and take his head off, bang, like a missile. It’s always been a part of my game," Davis said. "I’ve never been shy of hitting."
Nor has Detroit's defense under Campbell and Glenn. It's part of why the Lions thought Davis would be such a natural fit, along with Robertson and Arnold. As Davis puts it, the common trait among the trio is that "we love to compete." In other words, "We just got that sh*t to us." Not every corner enjoys defending the run, but it's a non-negotiable in Detroit. There is no GRIT without it.
Over his career, Davis has found that physical cornerbacks are the exception more than the rule. The way he plays serves as a reminder to his teammates, "Our f**kin' corners, we boutta f**kin' hit, too!" It permeates the rest of the defense.
"But honestly here, man, those guys were already doing what they gotta do," Davis said. "Like, Kerby and Alex and BB and Mac, this is what it’s been like, dawgs getting to the ball. So I was thrilled to add my little sh*t to the equation because I was like, 'If this is what y’all do, wait 'till I come in here. You gonna be turned up even more.'"
Two years ago, the Lions ranked 30th in the NFL in third-down defense. This year they rank first. And as Davis says, "third down is the game." They've lost several key players up front, including star Aidan Hutchinson, but they haven't lost their bite. The best tribute to Davis' influence on the secondary came this week from Arnold, who was discussing Detroit's strengths on defense when he said, "But the main thing is, I like our physicality."
"Every time we play a team, they know, OK, yeah, they just played the Lions. They’re gonna wake up hurtin’ the next day. We all fly to the ball. If you just put on the tape, we’re violent, we’re fierce, we’re physical and when you look at us on paper, or you look at the game film, you’re like, dang, man, I gotta play against them this week,'" Arnold said.
Davis will be a free agent after this season. He and the Lions had exploratory talks on an extension when he arrived, but nothing much since. With the way Davis is playing, he might command more on the open market than the Lions can afford to give him. They've already handed out several high-priced deals to their own players in the past year, with more on tap. Davis said Friday that there's nothing new to report on the contract front, but he's not stressing it.
"We want to win a Super Bowl, get through the season. You know I’d love to be here, and we’ll see how it shakes out. It’s cool, I’m not complaining about it. I’m just here to play ball right now, focus on that," said Davis.
He's playing exactly how the Lions hoped he would, with smarts and snarl. He broke his thumb in practice this week and will line up Sunday against the Jags and star rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr., counting on the adrenaline to numb the pain. Davis will turn 28 on New Year's Eve, in the final week of the regular season. If that makes him old, so be it. Experience is an asset in the playoffs.
"Look, man," said Campbell. "He's all-in."