Vontae Davis Official Website

Sun Sentinel

Published Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010

DAVIE, Fla. -- What's higher?

The pitch of Vontae Davis' voice? His self-confidence? His tolerance for criticism? His upside as a cornerback?

Close contest.

"Playing corner, if you ain't got that confidence, you shouldn't be out there," Davis said after Tuesday's Dolphins practice. "That's just part of it. Good corners who become great have a lot of confidence. Always had that, that I wanted to be the best at what I did."

He won't be the best yet, in just his second NFL season after making nine starts in 2009. He's still learning at this level, as is fellow second-year starter Sean Smith, as we're learning about them. They both showed promise, and inexperience, as rookies. They both have given fans cause for concern with uneven play during the first two 2010 exhibitions, since their growth is so crucial to Mike Nolan's blitz-heavy defense.

But the belief in this corner is that both are on track to become quality NFL cornerbacks. Why wouldn't they? They're athletic, driven and coachable enough, with Davis impressing in the latter area as a pro after issues at Illinois caused his draft slide.

So they'll get there.

Just not in a straight line.

And maybe not at the same time.

After all, they're not exactly the same. They're friends, yes. And they've been paired together in the public's view, like Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain always were - and Madison and Surtain were drafted a year apart, not the very same day. But Smith and Davis are different people, likely to develop at different rates, and through different methods.

Earlier this week, I asked Tony Sparano how he strikes a balance with young players - like his cornerbacks - between getting his message across and building them up. Sparano called it "tricky." He wants players to be "armadillos," thickening their skin "so we can say what we need to say." He spoke about how, as much as he tries to treat everyone the same, he really can't, because "they're all different."

Then he said something that, even without many specifics, seemed to confirm what is easily observed. After all, he does tend to scream "Von-tae!" a lot at practice.

"I think, from my end, one of the two guys you could get after, and one of the two guys maybe you have to put your arm around a little bit to make your point one way or the other," Sparano said. "I think as long as you get your point across and they understand it. I had a conversation with Sean out here (Monday), and I think he understood what I was saying."

Or, as veteran safety Yeremiah Bell put it: "Vontae, you can kind of get in his ear a little more than Sean. With Sean, you've just got to make sure you do it the right way. Not saying he's soft or anything, but they're two different people. He takes criticism a different way than Vontae. You can kind of yell at Vontae, but Sean, you've got to kind of watch how you say it."

Smith does seem more introspective and, even while sporting a "Greatness" tattoo, doesn't always sound as convincing about his confidence. He spoke openly last season about his frustration with failing to record an interception, and conceded Tuesday that "it took a while for me to get over it, but it's last year, I'm not going to worry about it. That whole season is put in the past."

He acknowledged that comparisons to Surtain and Madison were difficult, because "those are real big shoes, and when you go out there and give up a touchdown, everybody is on your back, the crowd is yelling things, it would be easy for a guy to kind of tank it. But fortunately Vontae and I came at the same time, so we were going through the same experiences, and could pick each other up." He said that he never got down for more than a couple of plays, before a veteran such as Will Allen or Jason Taylor would tell him that he's a playmaker, that they had faith in him, that even the best got beat.

"From there, it was full steam ahead," Smith said.

For Davis, that never seems in question.

Does criticism trouble him?

"No, I mean, I take it as, 'I've got to do better,'" Davis said. "That's just how I was raised."

When he did something wrong, and his grandmother caught him, she told him what she wanted done.

"I didn't pout or nothing about it, I just did it," Davis said. "I might be mad inside, but I ain't let her know. I did it. And it works out for me in the long run. So if it worked out then, when I was little, (why) wouldn't work out now?"

Everything should work out for both of them.

Just not every play. Just not every game. Just not quite yet.

CLICK HERE for more photos of Vontae

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/fantasy/08/09/idp.report/

Chris Clemons slated to play hybrid pass rusher on passing downs for Pete
Carroll

Miami's Vontae Davis had 36 solo tackles in nine starts as a rookie
in 2009 DeAndre Levy may get 100 tackles for Lions defense sure to be busy
this year

By Gary Gramling, SI.com

As the preseason draws near, it's time to look at this year's IDP
(Individual Defensive Player) sleepers. These guys have likely never spent a
day on a fantasy roster, but look for them to become solid contributors in
2010.

Analysis is based on the four main statistics for most IDP leagues (solo
tackles, sacks, passes defensed and takeaways) in three-position formats
(defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs).

*Chris Clemons, DL, Seattle Seahawks*

Fact is, Clemons should be sitting on the waiver wire by the end of your
draft. But sack-heavy leaguers should keep an eye on him. He's a pure speed
pass rusher and he's going to play more snaps than he ever has in his
career. Clemons is certainly too small (6-feet-2, 240 lbs.) to hold up as an
every down guy, but he's going to fill *Pete Carroll*'s elephant role
(hybrid pass rusher on passing downs) as well as see part-time work on early
downs. In 2007, he had eight sacks as a passing down specialist in Oakland,
before seeing his role further reduced in two ineffective years with Philly.
If everything breaks right, he's looking at double-digit sacks this season.

*Vontae Davis, DB, Dolphins*

Vernon's little bro is far from an unknown after entering the league as a
first-round pick with a freak athlete reputation, but he was out of site and
out of mind for the first half of 2009. After stepping into the starting
lineup midseason, Davis put up an IDP stat line that was hard to ignore. In
nine starts, he had 36 solo tackles, nine passes defensed and three
interceptions. He's one of the few corners who combines big-play ability
with a willingness to help in run support. He has DB1 upside.

August 10, 2010|By Mike Berardino, Sun Sentinel

DAVIE — Vontae Davis has only been at this Twitter thing since late in his
rookie season, but the Dolphins' second-year cornerback has found a pretty
good barometer to let him know how he's doing.

"My grandmother even follows me," Davis says. "That's crazy right there. If
your grandmother follows you, you know it's a good thing."

Actually, Adeline Davis keeps tabs on her grandson via Davis' sister, who
has a Twitter account of her own. But the larger point remains: Unlike many
of his NFL contemporaries, Davis isn't going to "tweet" anything that might
prove embarrassing or leave him lighter in the wallet.

"I'm not going to go overboard," Davis says. "Your fans want to know what
you're doing, but I don't do too much. I respect my coach. And I'm not going
to put anything on there that my grandmother won't want to see."

Davis is one of more than a dozen current Dolphins players with legitimate
Twitter accounts, which might be somewhat surprising in light of the secrecy
mandated by the organization's football side.
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Then again, it's not like anyone is using those 140-character messages to
reveal any state secrets.

It's rare that any Dolphins player makes news of any sort on Twitter, as
Ricky Williams did Monday afternoon with a string of eight "tweets" that
asked fans to refrain from shouting questions or booing during open
practices.

The Dolphins have no official policy on Twitter and other social media. They
just ask players to use their best judgment and refrain from either putting
the team at a competitive disadvantage or using potentially embarrassing
language.

Kevin Sullivan, the former White House communications director under
President George W. Bush, spoke to the Dolphins players recently about
dealing with the media and drove home those points.

With 17,609 followers as of Tuesday, Williams (@RickyWilliams) is easily the
most popular Dolphin when it comes to this aspect of social media. The star
running back used Twitter this summer to invite strangers to the meditation
sessions he conducted at Nova Southeastern University, and his frequent
plugs for coconut water have drawn attention.

"I definitely like Ricky Williams' tweets," Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith
says. "He puts a lot of positive messages out there. You see him
interacting. Fans are always talking to him. I always keep an eye out for
what he has to say."

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-08-10/sports/fl-dolphins-twitter-0811-20100810_1_vontae-davis-tweets-brian-hartline