Cam’ron Davis is part of a deep and talented Miami running back corps. The four-star Freshman from Carol City High School in Opa-lacka will have a tough time earning carries for the Hurricanes in 2018.
Davis was the 173rd ranked player, the seventh-ranked running back and 29th best player in the Class of 2018. He will have to compete with the Miami football team’s incumbent starter at running back Travis Homer, Homer’s backup DeeJay Dallas and classmate, five-star running back Lorenzo Lingard to earn playing time.
Despite Davis’ lofty ranking in the Class of 2018 if the three players ahead of him on the depth chart stay healthy, Davis could be a good candidate to redshirt this season.
Under the new redshirt rule, Davis will have the opportunity to play in four games. Head Coach Mark Richt and Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach Thomas Brown can then make a decision.
Davis ran for 820 yards and 13 touchdowns as a Junior in 2016 to help lead Carol City to the 6A state title. After upsetting the second and third seeds in Region Four, sixth-seeded Carol City lost to top-seeded Northwestern in the regional final in 2017.
Richt discussed how Davis is performing during the first week of training camp with the official Miami Athletic site HurricaneSports.Com.
"“Cam [Davis]…did a nice job today. You can see his quickness and those types of things. Cam Davis has flashes, but he doesn’t get it yet. Obviously, he’s the newest one to get here.Just from how we do stuff practice-wise, how we finish stuff, the mindset we have every day – he’s got a long way to go with that. But he has really good ball skills, he runs the ball well.”"
If Davis continues to take time to get adjusted to the way Richt wants things done a redshirt season seems inevitable. As the only five-star recruit in the Hurricanes Storm ’18 Class, it would be surprising to see Lingard not be a significant part of the Miami offense this fall. It would also be surprising for Lingard to be at UM for four years.
If Davis uses his redshirt season and is on the Miami football roster as an active player for four seasons he would be at Miami for five seasons total. That would place Davis on the Miami roster for two seasons beyond Lingard if the five-star back leaves after his true Junior season.
During the second day of fall training camp, Davis was rotating as the third running back behind Homer and Dallas. He shared third-string with Lingard and Redshirt Freshman Robert Burns. That is not likely to last long. Lingard is close to a lock to emerge as the third-string running back when training camp closes.
Homer, Dallas and Lingard are all expected to get their share of carries this season. With that being the likelihood it would be in Davis’ best interests to take a redshirt season. Richt and Special teams Coordinator Todd Hartley might want to use Davis on special teams.
That seems to the best way for Davis to earn playing time if he is a part of the active roster in 2018. The competition is likely to be just as fierce in training camp in 2019. Unless Homer leaves for the NFL a year early, all the running backs will return next season. Miami only has one verbal commit at running back for 2019.