NFL Predictions 2020: One surprise rookie gem who will star for each team

Cincinnati Bengals: Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB

One player that we all wanted to see at the Scouting Combine was Appalachian State linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither. He’s undersized for a linebacker at 6-foot-1 and 224-pounds but he makes up for that with his speed and ability to slip away from blockers.

He used those skills and a nose for the ball to rack up 197 tackles, 24 of which went for a loss, and 6.5 sacks over his last two seasons with the Mountaineers. Five of those sacks came in 2019 as he proved to be adept in this area, which isn’t usually expected from a hybrid player such as Davis-Gaither.

Unfortunately, he was unable to go at the Combine due to an injury that robbed us all from seeing him show off his talent. Had he performed there, he might have been able to move into the second night of the draft, but instead, he was the first pick of the fourth-round for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Davis-Gaither was the second linebacker taken by Cincinnati following Logan Wilson out of Wyoming. They also closed their draft out with Purdue’s Markus Bailey as they seem ready to revamp their linebacker corps.

Of the three, Davis-Gaither has the highest ceiling and he should be able to have an impact on their defense, and special teams, as a rookie.