Belated 39 Days to Kickoff! - Kyle Davis

Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

As we continue our march to kickoff, we take a look at the top 100 recruits to sign with Auburn of all-time*. The rankings are based on 247’s composite recruit rankings, which unfortunately only date back to 2000.

THE RECRUIT

Heading into Iron Bowl week in 2016, Auburn fans weren’t exactly happy people. The Tigers had just blown what should have a stupidly easy win against Georgia, and with it clear that Sean White wasn’t healthy, nobody really wanted to watch the Iron Bowl.

On Wednesday of that week, though, as they prepared a feast for the next day despite stomachs full of dread, Auburn fans got a huge surprise in the form of a highly touted recruit - Kyle Davis, a borderline five star wide receiver out of Lawrenceville, Georgia (represent!), had spurned the Dawgs for Auburn.

This was a huge get for the Tigers, who, before the coming offseason would end, would lose each of their top four receivers. Davis was touted as the guy who could replace Duke Williams without being, well... Duke Williams. At 6’2” and 210 lbs before he even got to Auburn, Davis was a big, physical receiver who seemed to almost prefer making highlight catches in traffic as opposed to the easy wide open ones.

THE PLAYER

Davis was a part of one of the best receiving classes Auburn has ever signed, which included Davis, Eli Stove, and Nate Craig Myers. Each of these guys saw time as freshman, but Kyle Davis made jaws drop from the first week. Though he was a backup to Darius Slayton, Davis saw the field on a handful of snaps, and snuck behind the defense to catch this 41 yard underthrow from Sean White late in the game.

The next week, he made another awe-inspiring catch, though the stakes were a little lower against Arkansas State.

After that... well, that was basically the height of his college career. Davis would play in 13 career games for the Tigers in 2016 and the beginning of 2017, and although he had a habit of hauling in huge gains, his best game in orange and blue came when he caught 3 balls for 62 yards against Mercer.

After the awful, no-good, very bad day in Baton Rouge in 2017, it was announced Kyle Davis had been dismissed for a violation of team rules. Davis would go on to join Lane Kiffin and FAU in 2018, but as a transfer he had to sit out. He never played in a game for the Owls, though, as he left school this offseason to pursue a pro career. Not finding an NFL team wanting to take a chance on him, Davis signed a pro contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who also employ Auburn legend Nick Marshall as a DB. After all these years, hopefully Davis can finally follow in Duke Williams shoes - go to Canada, work hard, become the best receiver in the league, and earn a spot with an NFL team, as Duke has done for this upcoming season.

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