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Film Room: How Colts' Vontae Davis matured into one of the NFL's top cornerbacks

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Slowly, the Indianapolis Colts’ Vontae Davis is becoming a top-flight cornerback. He’s erasing receivers in the boundary, with quarterbacks not even looking his way at times. When they do, they throw interceptions. He’s impressive, but he wasn’t always this good.

At the University of Illinois, Davis had the size to be physical with receivers, but he didn’t always have the effort and technique. He’d lose contain on the edge, lose track of the ball when he turned his back to it downfield. That led to a benching in 2008, his junior year, and a subsequent declaration for the 2009 NFL Draft after the season.

Questions surrounded his work ethic and determination to be a top cornerback. Some looked to tight end and brother, Vernon, who was already in the NFL and wasn’t getting along with his coaches. Would Vontae be the same, despite his potential to be a top-10 pick?

He slid 25 spots, to the Miami Dolphins, who had a recent history of some great defensive backs with Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. Davis had the potential to be like them, dominating at the line through bump-and-run coverage and mirroring receivers, if he put in the effort.

Davis spent three inconsistent seasons with the Dolphins. There were bright times, like when he out-jumped wide receiver Randy Moss on a fade route in the end zone for an interception.

Then there were dark times, times that worried his coaches, when he lacked any kind of awareness for receivers and runners. Receivers crossing into his zones weren’t picked up by him. A run would be drawn up outside against the Dolphins’ Cover 2, when Davis was a force defender, and he’d give up the sideline. It was maddening for coaches.

At one point, it caused Jeff Ireland, the general manager, to listen to offers for the third-year pro. One team heavily interested was the Colts. They needed to improve their secondary and with Davis’s roster spot in question, it was their chance. They offered a second-round pick and a conditional sixth-round pick. Ireland agreed to it and broke the news to the callow Davis in his dimly-lit office, which was aired on an episode of Hard Knocks.

“OK, so the rumor is true,” Ireland said, with a dull voice from his office chair. “We just traded you, OK? We traded you to the Indianapolis Colts, all right? You OK?”

“I wanna call my grandmother,” Davis said, with his mouth open, his encased phone in his right hand and his right foot tapping nervously on the carpet.

And with that, the Florida sun no longer shined on Davis. That was 2012.

The trade was exactly what Davis needed: a wake-up call. He wasn’t living up to his first-round billing, but in Indianapolis, he slowly started to turn it around.

He changed his diet and approach to the game after being pushed by Colts head coach Chuck Pagano. No more horsing around, no more TGI Friday’s brownies and no more decommitting to dieting. This wasn’t college.

His technique improved, too. He became better at the line of scrimmage. In the past, he had a penchant for opening his hips too early, which allowed receivers to toy with him, but not anymore. Now he waits for them to decide where they’re going and plays bump-and-run at times, as seen against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3.

It was the third quarter, first-and-10. Davis was lined up a yard from the line, across from a wide receiver in man coverage. His hips were square, his arms dangled over his knees. The Jaguars quarterback looked over to him before the snap and then looked away.

Suddenly, the receiver released outside. Davis didn’t panic; he kept his hips square and slid his feet. He extended his arms, punched the receiver in the chest and inside shoulder and slid outside.

As the quarterback took a three-step drop, the receiver struggled to shake Davis off. Eventually he pushed off and cut back inside, but the quarterback never looked his way.

When receivers run vertically on Davis, he’s shown improvement in defending the deep ball. He’s finally looked for throws when his back is turned to them. He’s allowing a 12.3 passer rating in his direction in 2014, per Pro Football Focus, despite spending much of his time in one-on-one coverage. It’s the best at his position.

He’s also given up only eight receptions, second-best at his position and only one behind the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman. He has two interceptions this season as well, one of which came against the Jaguars.

In the fourth quarter, it was second-and-10. The Jaguars had the same receiver isolated against Davis outside the numbers. It was man coverage and Davis was again at the line. His back was flat and, this time, his arms rested on his knees.

Davis kept his hips square when the play began. And then the receiver released outside and forced Davis to open and run. He ran with the receiver down the sideline and jabbed him with a straight left arm.

As the two ran, Davis started to cut off running room. The receiver’s goal was to push Davis back toward the middle of the field, so the quarterback could drop the ball in over his head and to the outside shoulder. But Davis didn’t let that happen. He pushed back and leaned into the receiver’s body to pin him to the sideline.

Then, he looked back for the ball. It was expected outside for the receiver, but with him eliminated, Davis stuck out his arms and caught his first interception of the season.

Davis usually plays isolated man coverage because the Colts play single-high coverages so much. It puts stress on him and his technical proficiency. When the Colts do play other coverages, such as two deep, it gives Davis a little bit of breathing room.

In Week 5, in the third quarter, Davis was lined up in off-man coverage on third-and-long. When the play began, he walked toward the middle of the field and let the receiver he was covering run outside him. His responsibilities morphed from pure isolated man coverage to Cover-2 Man.

He watched the quarterback and then turned around to stay at the receiver's inside hip. He was playing underneath coverage and he had safety help over the top. The quarterback thought he had an opening in front of both in the middle of the field and fired the ball.

The receiver was open until Davis undercut the route. He leaped up and intercepted the ball for the second time this season.

These are the kind of plays that coaches expected from Davis at Illinois. They thought they would start coming after his benching against Iowa in 2008. They never did. They didn’t at Miami, either, despite constant pushing from coaches. But they have been happening since he was dealt to Indianapolis, where he’s matured.

That’s why the Colts signed him to a four-year, $39 million contract this offseason. That’s what the top cornerbacks get nowadays.

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