Jarrad Davis

Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis put on a show of athletic traits at his pro day and could rise to being an option for the Detroit Lions with the No. 21 overall pick in this month's draft.

(AP Photo)

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions need linebackers, particularly the kind who can be noticed after last year's group failed to record a single sack, interception or forced fumble.

After two starters left in free agency -- the Lions let Joshua Bynes' contract expire and terminated DeAndre Levy's on their own -- it's become one of the biggest needs on the team and an easy place to start conversations involving some of the better prospects in the draft.

Hype has risen lately surrounding Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis much for this reason but also due to some of his own strides. His stock was quiet early in the process after an ankle injury caused him to miss his final five college games and then held him out of drills at the NFL Scouting Combine. All he could do for a while was rely on his college tape, which showed skills teams could doubt were the same after the injury.

He has since answered the questions about where he is physically with quite a showing at his pro day. Davis ran a 40-yard dash time in the 4.6-second range, which would have ranked him in the top 10 among linebackers at the combine. His 38.5-inch vertical jump would have topped all but four defensive backs in Indianapolis, and his 10-foot-9-inch broad jump would have been the best by any competing linebacker.

The pro day gave him more time to train and more comfortable settings, so the numbers will be taken in a certain context. But they also showed real athleticism just months after he recovered from a lingering ankle injury.

"From a talent standpoint, Jarrad Davis is a first-round player. From an intangible standpoint, he's a top-five player in the class," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said Tuesday on a teleconference. "He's a player who loves the game. You can see the passion and just energy that he has for the game when you study him on tape.

"Durability is going to be the only thing when you look at the issues he's had."

The 6-foot-1-inch, 238-pound linebacker racked up high production in one of college football's better leagues in the Southeastern Conference. He had 60 tackles, six tackles for loss and two sacks in just nine games last season. When he played 14 games the year before, he totaled 98 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

He's one of a few linebackers receiving first-round hype for their potential to stop the run and the pass, joining Alabama's Reuben Foster, Temple's Haason Reddick and Vanderbilt's Zach Cunningham. Foster and Reddick are considered likely to be gone by the time the Lions are on the clock at No. 21 overall, but a choice could come between Davis and Cunningham.

McShay likes Davis better between the two due to his edge in strength and tackling technique. Davis' energy also helps his grade. McShay has Cunningham rated lower than some others as a late second- or early third-round prospect, whereas some have him going as early as the middle of the first.

With Detroit's needs for athletic bodies at the position, both will be players they continue to scout heavily leading up to next Thursday's first round.