It looks like Rian Davis is going to cause some “Trouble” in Athens a little sooner now. He’ll likely start while rehabbing his knee injury at that.
Davis told DawgNation on Sunday he suffered a torn ACL and a torn meniscus in a recent game. He did still make it to Athens this weekend, though. He goes by the nickname “Trouble” because that’s what he aims to cause offenses when he is on the field.
He lives up to it. The nation’s No. 4 LB prospect for 2019 (247Sports composite) finished his junior year with 94 tackles and 15 tackles for losses while making a variety of plays from all over the field.
The injury sparked the idea for him to enroll early now. Davis said the coaches at Georgia floated the idea about whether or not he can enroll early. He jumped on it.
“The coaches suggested it after I got hurt,” Davis told DawgNation.
He committed to the Bulldogs back on July 29 and now hopes to become a Bulldog in January.
“I’m [going to] try to enroll early now so I can do most of my rehab at UGA,” Davis said.
That falls in line with what 5-star RB Zamir White did last season after his season-ending knee injury back in late November. The fact that he suffered the injury in late September will still give Davis a chance to contribute to the team in the 2019 season.
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The 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior ranks as the nation’s No. 67 overall prospect for the class of 2019 on the 247Sports composite rankings. He’s currently slotted as the sixth-highest rated prospect in the Bulldog class.
He’s the highest-rated recruit for the Bulldogs outside of the five commitments for 2019 that hold the coveted 5-star ratings.
Davis said the injury took place on a routine play.
“I was making a tackle and twisted it,” he said.
The Wekiva (Fla.) standout said he expects to have surgery on the knee sometime next week. He had a very interesting recruitment.
Davis visited Georgia, loved it and basically didn’t mind shrouding his process in secrecy. He freely admitted that the Bulldogs were his leader and team to beat for the 3-4 months prior to his commitment decision.
“I know a lot of dudes don’t believe in answering those questions like who the leader is and stuff like that,” Davis said. “I don’t find any problem with that. It is not like I am giving away who I am committing to. I am just telling them who my leader is at the time.”
The quick recruiting catch-up Intel on Rian “Trouble” Davis
Rian (Ryan as in Nolan Ryan) Davis went about his recruiting in an uncommon manner:
- He never minded telling reporters which school was his leader.
- Georgia was basically his top choice from the moment he first visited Athens back in March.
- The Bulldogs remained his leader through four more treks to UGA.
- His first visit immediately became the best visit he had been on to that point.
- Davis felt he would commit right before his senior season. That’s what he did. When he said Georgia was going to be hard to beat, that was really how he saw it.
- He said the coaches he connected with the most were the ones on the UGA staff.
- When he said he felt Glenn Schumann might be the best ILBs coach in the country, he meant it. That wasn’t just for a reporter who covers the UGA recruiting effort on the regular.
- He carries the nickname “Trouble” as a nod to all the havoc he wreaks on the field, but he was never any “trouble” for the Bulldogs to hold on to once they seriously began to recruit him.
It was basically like he took a shot of truth serum prior to every interaction I had with him.
He flashed his 4.6 speed enough to tally 94 tackles, 15 stops for losses, 5 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 defensive touchdowns as a junior in 2017.
He will only have four games of highlights this season after suffering the injury on Sept. 21 but the way he plays the game will equate to a season’s worth of highlights for a lot of elite LBs.
Davis was also recently honored as a 2019 Under Armour All-American earlier this month.
Check out his best clips from his senior season. The first reel comes against defending GHSA Class 7A state champion North Gwinnett.