The saying "success is when preparation meets opportunity" describes Jets rookie RB Isaiah Davis' season.
Davis, drafted in the fifth round out of South Dakota State in April, took 6 snaps on offense through the first 11 games this season and 12 in Week 13 against the Seahawks. Last Sunday against the Dolphins, he played 36 snaps (53%) and scored his first rushing touchdown.
"It's been a blessing," Davis said of his increased workload. "It's been what I've worked for, looked forward to my whole life. I was told the opportunity was going to arise sometime. I didn't know when, but just kept working in practice so when the opportunity does arise, I can take advantage of it."
Davis, a team captain for the Jackrabbits, was the workhorse his final two collegiate seasons when he totaled 485 carries, 3,029 yards and 33 touchdowns on the ground. His 1,578 rushing yards his senior year led the FCS and he was named first-team All-American.
With Jets RB Breece Hall out of the lineup because of a knee injury in Week 14, Davis totaled 40 rushing yards on 10 carries and added 3 catches for 27 yards. Fellow rookie RB Braelon Allen, who has been the No. 2 behind Hall, started at Miami. Allen finished with 43 yards on 11 carries and 4 receptions for 38 yards.
"This is definitely the most competitive running back room I've ever been a part of," Davis said. "Every day practicing since the day I got here, the running back room always pushed each other, competed and that's something I haven't been a part of. It's a blessing because I find myself getting better and find my teammates getting better."
Like many mid-round picks, Davis' path to the field started with special teams. He's one of five players on the Green & White with more than 200 snaps on special teams this season.
"Isaiah Davis has saved our tail a few times this year with the positional changes that he has had to make in certain emergency situations and things like that," ST coordinator Brant Boyer said last week.
One of those positional changes was becoming the punt protector when S Ashtyn Davis was out. The rookie learned the spot in three days.
"He just keeps getting better," P Thomas Morstead said. "I remember watching him catch punts in training camp. He doesn't look like a punt returner, but I was like, 'He could punt return for us, too.' He's pretty good at everything. He's a pro already just with his mindset. It's just like a computer, just takes time to download, right? He's doing the work, he's doing the process and he's getting experience really quickly.
"As the game was going on [last] weekend and he's getting more opportunity on offense, it's a little bittersweet because you know he's going to do well, which is great, and you know that role is going to keep expanding and that you may lose him on certain phases of special teams. But that's great. That's what you hope for him."
Davis' role could continue to expand down the stretch because Hall's knee injury caused him to miss Wednesday's and Thursday's practices. As Davis has settled into the offense, he's realized the biggest difference from college to the pros is the attention to detail.
"Coming from the FCS, you get by with a lot of things that you don't get by with here," he said. "I see myself as trying to be a perfectionist. I'm not perfect, but that's how I'm wired." It's kind of been hard with the opportunities. That's why I'm just trying to make the most of it and just take it day by day."
