Background

J.C. Davis was born on October 9, 2003, and attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, where he primarily played defensive tackle and earned second-team All-League honors as a senior and second-team All-City as a junior. He switched to the offensive line when he arrived at Contra Costa College and earned First-Team All-CCCAA in his first year at the new position in 2021. A two-star recruit, he transferred to New Mexico in 2022 and started 24 games at left tackle over two seasons, earning All-Mountain West Honorable Mention as a freshman and First-Team All-Mountain West as a sophomore. He then transferred to Illinois for 2024 and was named Third-Team All-Big Ten and Illinois Male Newcomer of the Year in his first season, starting all 13 games. He was projected as a late pick in the 2025 draft but opted to return for the 2025 season after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to athletes who had previously played a JUCO season, following the federal court ruling in the Diego Pavia case. For 2025, he was named First-Team All-Big Ten and Phil Steele All-America Fourth Team. He finished his career with 49 consecutive starts at left tackle across three schools. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Physical Attributes

J.C. Davis is a slightly above-average athlete. He moves well in space and has decent short-area burst that helps him recover on pass blocks. The most important part of his physical profile is his physical profile, though. His physique is excellent. He carries a tad too much fat above the waist, but has a huge butt and legs that help him anchor and create strength when he needs it. For someone with that kind of lower body to have the soft, quick feet he does is uncommon. On top of that, for someone his height, he has long arms and big hands.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my OL radar charts, you can find more information here

Whenever we get into later tackles, especially for shorter players, we ask if this player might be better as a guard. You want them, and they also want to be tackles in the league because they are more valuable, but that's not always the case. As for Davis, I think he could be a very solid guard, but there is nothing that scares me off of putting him outside.

Playing in the Big Ten, Davis held up very well, especially for someone who only started playing the position four years ago. As a pass blocker, his huge ass and powerful hands make it hard to move him. Inconsistency in hand placement and timing plague him; at times it looks more like he is playing his old DT position. So his hands are not as effective as they could be. He deals with nearly every move well, except speed from outside to in. That is almost entirely a result of his inconsistent hand usage. When looking at the radar chart and seeing the lower pass block efficiency numbers, those came from his two worst games, Duke and Wisconsin, who both had late-round EDGEs against him. Though he did well against rushers from Ohio State, USC, and Indiana compared to those two games.

As a run blocker, I wish he would assert himself a bit more. Again his hands are a huge culprit here, as the inconsistent placement of them leads to him ceding control of the situation. Looks comfortable in either run scheme, and has the traits to go back and forth between either.

Grade and Outlook

Davis has some very interesting tape that makes me want to see what can happen if he gets a year or two of NFL coaching and sitting as a backup before breaking out onto the scene. Again, he has only played the position for four years, and even though he will turn 23 in season, there is no reason to think his development has topped out.

Grade: 5.0 (Late 3rd Rounder / Early 4th Rounder)