Air Force safety Davis ready for big senior season

When Air Force needed a strong safety last year, Jon Davis did his part.

Davis is a free safety. His build and skill set makes him far more adept at roaming the deep end of the defense, not playing near the line of scrimmage and taking on blocks. But when strong safety Brian Lindsay went down with a broken collarbone last year, someone needed to play that role. It wasn’t going to be then-freshman Anthony Wooding, who was even more slender than Davis. Davis had never played strong safety, but he was the next man up.

Davis got honorable mention all-Mountain West after last season, so it’s not like he had a bad season. But playing out of position kept his production down a bit.

“There were definitely some plays I should have made that I didn’t make, some interceptions I dropped and some tackles that I missed,” Davis said. “I think I had a decent year but it could have been better.”

Davis had 93 tackles and three interceptions, and sealed the Independence Bowl victory with an interception in the final seconds. So when he says he feels good being back at his natural position and can improve this year, Air Force fans can dream of the type of senior season he’s envisioning for himself. He made perhaps the best play in Saturday’s scrimmage, with a diving interception near the sideline in a 7-on-7 drill.

“I can roam a bit and I know exactly what I need to do,” said Davis, who was named preseason all-Mountain West. “I can play a lot faster because I’m not worried about thinking all the time like I was at strong safety last year.”

Davis’ time at strong safety will help him this season. Not only had he never played strong safety before, he admits he had only a rough idea what the strong safety’s responsibilities were. He spent all of his time concentrating on his assignments at free safety, especially as a first-time starter his sophomore season.

The entire defense should benefit from his experience playing a new position. He has plenty of responsibility on the back end of the defense, identifying offensive sets and changing the coverage as needed. He said he “loves” having that responsibility, and he should be even more adept at carrying it out.  

“Going to strong safety opened up my eyes to the whole defense and the concepts of the defense,” Davis said.

Davis has started all 26 games for the Falcons over the past two seasons, so he should be operating at a very high level in the defense. The coaches trust him to get everyone lined up correctly in coverage, and they know what kind of playmaking ability he brings to the defense.  

“His anticipation and realizing what’s going on gives him some pluses,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “When he says something, he’s dead on.”