Mike Davis is running angry and doing more than holding McCaffrey’s spot for Panthers
Mike Davis was a backup running back for the Carolina Panthers for many months, and inevitably there will soon come a day when that becomes his role once again.
But what Davis has done for three straight weeks while subbing in for Christian McCaffrey has been a prime example of making the most of your moment. Davis may always run like he’s “pissed off,” to use his phrase, but he’s made a lot of his teammates and Carolina fans joyful while he does so.
The latest example: Davis going off for 149 yards (89 rushing, 60 receiving) and a touchdown in Carolina’s 23-16 win over Atlanta on Sunday. Davis ran through and around would-be tacklers — mostly through them — and scored for the third consecutive week in a game that apparently ended the tenure of Falcons coach Dan Quinn.
When asked to describe his running style, Davis said afterward: “I want it, you know what I mean?”
After three weeks, we certainly do know.
Davis is a pounder, much like the most famous previous Carolina occupant of his No. 28 jersey — Jonathan Stewart. Most comfortable inside the tackles, Davis (5-9, 220 pounds) has also shown surprisingly sure hands. He caught a team-high nine passes Sunday from Teddy Bridgewater, time and again serving as a safety valve and helping ensure Bridgewater wasn’t sacked for the second game in a row. Davis now has 30 receptions this season, tied with New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara for the most by any running back this season.
And when he gets the ball, Davis runs like an angry man.
“Most of the time I’m just really pissed off when I’m out there,” Davis said.
Davis’s powerful runs have helped Carolina become a physical team again, an aspect that disintegrated last season when the defense became the worst against the run in the NFL. Now, it’s back.
“We want to come in and be the toughest team you can play,” Davis said. As for his fourth-quarter runs that helped Carolina seal the game, Davis said: “It’s a relief for me when I can just go in and pound guys and run through them and break their will. That’s really what I’m trying to do. I’m really trying to break anybody that’s in my way.”
“He’s running it with tremendous physicality,” Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said. “He’s not getting tackled by the first tackler. ... Mike’s a pro and he’s playing like it.”
The Panthers (3-2) are about to have one of those very good problems to have when McCaffrey returns from injured reserve due to his high ankle sprain — which could be as early as this coming week against Chicago and, if not, shouldn’t be more than a week or two after that.
Davis can’t float and fly in open space like McCaffrey. No other back in the NFL can. But he has shown that he can and should relieve some of McCaffrey’s load once No. 22 returns — not half of it, of course, but maybe 15-20 percent of it.
For fantasy football scoring purposes, it won’t be ideal for those who start McCaffrey or Davis. In reality, though, it will be a great tandem.
McCaffrey has been remarkably durable, but no running back stays that way forever. Carolina’s $64-million investment in its franchise running back was an investment in a blue-chip stock, but giving Davis 5 to 7 touches a game even after McCaffrey returns is also smart money. It’s called protecting the investment.
A backup for most of his NFL career, Davis said he understands what his role will be once McCaffrey returns. In the meantime, he said McCaffrey has been among those happiest for his success.
“I don’t think people understand,” Davis said. “C-Mac is a team-first guy, he really is. ... I can go and check my phone after the game and C-Mac will be the first one to send me videos of my best runs. And I hear him in the background cheering for me.”
It will be the other way around at some point soon, with Davis cheering for McCaffrey again. But what Davis has done the past three weeks is extraordinary. And if the Panthers are wise, they won’t completely banish him to the bench even after Mr. Franchise returns. There should still be room for Davis to make a contribution. In the past three weeks, he has earned that.
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
