Why Sean Davis will set career highs in interceptions and tackles in 2019

In case you didn’t know, the Pittsburgh Steelers will return to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA in exactly 10 days of this article being published. With that, I decided to revive an old series we used to do as a lead up to training camp.

30 predictions in 30 days.

Myself and Simon Chester are alternating days giving a prediction for the upcoming season. Some will be team oriented, while others will be specific to individual players. Either way, read on to see the reason why we think today’s prediction will come to fruition, and why it might not come true. Give your thoughts in the comment section below the article.

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Prediction: Sean Davis will set career highs in interceptions and tackles in 2019.

Why it will happen: Sean Davis is a player I feel for when you look at the entire scope of his NFL career. His rookie season he was a player who played both slot cornerback and safety. After some early struggles they decided to have him focus on playing safety alongside Mike Mitchell.

When Mitchell was released, Davis switched positions when the team drafted Terrell Edmunds in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. In other words, Davis has never really had a chance to call a position home, and be given the time to get comfortable.

In 2019, with Edumunds a full year under his belt, Davis should be able to roam the deep secondary without having to worry about a rookie next to him. This general understanding, and comfort level, should increase his stats in two main categories — interceptions and tackles.

Davis has never had more than 3 interceptions in a season, and his 90 tackles in 2018 are a career high. While you don’t want your safeties with huge tackle numbers, I see Davis setting career marks in a contract year for the black-and-gold.

Why it won’t happen: The Steelers’ defense is a sub package defense, just like most of the defenses in the NFL, and this can cause the secondary to have different responsibilities than the usual 3-4 alignment. Nonetheless, it isn’t as if Davis will not have opportunities to make plays.

Maybe Davis just isn’t the type of player who is destined to be a big stat-getter in the deep secondary. Not to mention despite Edmunds playing a ton as a rookie, he still has a lot to prove before Davis might have to think twice about taking gambles in the back half without leaving the secondary vulnerable.

Davis has yet to show he can put up anything resembling 90+ tackles, or 3+ interceptions to date. Not much makes you think this will change in 2019, even when it is a contract season.

What are your thoughts on this prediction? Do you think it will happen? Or are we crazy? Let us know by voting in the poll, and letting your voice be heard in the comment section below!