Akeem Davis-Gaither going to the Cincinnati Bengals created a splash at the top of the fourth round.
One of the bigger names at linebacker because of his outstanding athleticism, ADG joins Logan Wilson as two guys heavily remaking that room for the Bengals.
Here is a look at five fun, quick facts about the newest Bengals linebacker.
He played through injury
We noted in prior pieces that some of the reasons ADG likely fell were over injury concerns.
But as seen in the note above from ESPN’s Ben Baby, some of that might end up classifying as “overblown” in hindsight. ADG told the Cincinnati media right away that the supposed stress fracture wasn’t something that forced him to the sidelines.
He’s a force on special teams
The worst-case scenario for ADG? He slots as a special-teams only guy for his rookie year.
That’s unlikely, but as The Athletic’s Jay Morrison captured above, it wouldn’t be bad for the special teams unit.
If nothing else, Darrin Simmons gets an upgrade.
Bengals loved him at the Senior Bowl
The Bengals have put out a ton of quotes since the big event in Mobile stressing how much they liked ADG, so them plucking him out of a fall in Round 4 wasn’t much of a stunner.
Bengals coaches even made him a captain at the Senior Bowl, which is saying quite a lot considering it was an All-Star game with a ton of players from much bigger conferences.
He met goals at the Senior Bowl
That Senior Bowl trip was key for ADG, as he told Draft Wire’s Justin Melo:
“I believe that I showed them that I can play inside the box at my current size. I know they had some doubts about me being able to play inside linebacker and playing in the box in the NFL. My ultimate goal was to quiet those whispers and prove those doubters wrong. I went down to the Senior Bowl and I competed against those guys. I played inside the box with great success.”
The Bengals have made it clear since drafting ADG that they don’t have a ton of concerns in this regard.
Football is family
It’s never a bad thing to draft a prospect who has football in his family — it’s a way of life.
The Bengals did it notably with Joe Burrow and have done it again here with ADG.
ADG’s father, Keith, coaches wideouts at Army and has carved out a lengthy career overall as a collegiate coach.
