Saints: There’s still time for Marcus Davenport to become a star
Even though Marcus Davenport hasn’t been the kind of player the New Orleans Saints were hoping for when they traded up to take him No. 14 overall, there’s still time for him to show that he’s capable of being a star player.
Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report backed up this sentiment in his recent article, listing Davenport as a ‘youngster who could still blossom a star’. Here’s more from Sobleski’s article:
"The Saints allowed a need to dictate two draft classes since Davenport’s acquisition included trading away a a ’19 first-round pick, and they’re still waiting on him to become the consistent disruptive edge presence the team initially projected.Davenport managed 12 sacks and 60 total pressures in his first three seasons. Despite the poor production, the Saints picked up his fifth-year rookie option.A healthy Davenport has the size (6’6″, 265 pounds), length and agility to become an excellent bookend to Jordan with the natural ability to register a 10-plus-sack season. A different mental approach to the game should go a long way to realizing his full potential."
There’s certainly reason to believe that Davenport has more to show than what he’s put on display so far and the Saints have proven they believe in him moving forward. They picked up his fifth-year option, which was surprising considering how poorly he’s played so far but it hopefully shows Davenport that they believe in him.
Don’t count out Marcus Davenport, Saints fans.
New Orleans traded their 2019 first-round pick to draft Davenport for a reason. He was a monster of a man at Texas-San Antonio totaling 17.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in during his senior season in 2017. We haven’t seen that kind of player in the Big Easy quite yet and it’s been disappointing but there’s no time like the present for him to break out in a big way.
Saints fans certainly hope that 2021 is the year for Davenport but if it’s not, with his fifth-year option being picked up, he has another crack at it in 2022. Hopefully, he doesn’t put it off too long and we can see what the defense looks like with Davenport on the same level he was in college.
Next. 3 Players to Extend Now That Ryan Ramczyk is Signed. dark
The incentive for Davenport is that he can earn himself a massive contract extension with a nice season this year. Trey Hendrickson went from an okay player to a monster defensive end who landed a big contract in just one year and Davenport can do the same thing with a good season in 2021.