Dolphins sign former Cowboys safety Keith Davis

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolsign100908,0,6171034.story?track=rss

Dolphins sign former Cowboys safety Keith Davis

By Harvey Fialkov
Sun-Sentinel.com

10:49 AM EDT, March 11, 2008

The Miami Dolphins continued raiding Dallas Cowboys personnel on Tuesday by agreeing to terms with free agent safety Keith Davis, according to a source.

Davis, 29, will not only shore up a thin secondary and compete with recently re-signed strong safety Yeremiah Bell, Renaldo Hill and Jason Allen for a starting spot, but he will also bolster the special teams coverage units, a major weakness last season. Hill is still recovering from season-ending knee surgery.

Davis was captain of the Cowboys special teams last year and had 18 tackles. The 5-foot-11, 207-pound Davis was originally signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Sam Houston State in 2002.

Davis, a Texas native, has a strange history of getting shot. He missed the entire 2003 season after suffering a gunshot wound to his hip and elbow while waiting to pick up a friend at a topless club. Then-Cowboys coach Bill Parcells released Davis, but re-signed him a year later after he excelled during a stint with the Berlin Thunder of the now defunct NFL Europe league.

Davis was also shot in the head and thigh while driving down a Dallas highway in July 2006 as he was returning from a family vacation. The police described it as an attempted carjacking. None of the wounds were considered serious.

Davis started 15 games in 2005 and finished with 68 tackles, fourth most on the team. He only started six games in 2006 and one last season in the base defense. Parcells, now vice president of football operations for the Dolphins, has praised Davis in the past for his hard-hitting prowess on special teams.

Obviously, Davis rejoins many of his former Dallas coaches, who are now assistants with the Dolphins, including head coach Tony Sparano, defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni, defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers and secondary coach Todd Bowles.

Davis is the 10th new player added to the Dolphins roster since free agency began on Feb. 29. They previously acquired Cowboys defensive tackle Jason Ferguson in a trade. Other former Cowboys who played for Parcells now on the Dolphins roster are: tight end Sean Ryan, cornerback Joey Thomas, center Trey Darilek, linebacker Junior Glymph and quarterback Matt Baker.

"While he has excelled in his role as a top-notch special teams player in the NFL, Davis wants to find a team where he can get more snaps defensively in addition to being a stalwart on special teams," agent Curtis Stephens said in a statement before the free agency period began.

[Fau Teixeira]

Davis was captain of the Cowboys special teams last year

i like that, shows leadership

[dolphins4life]

In terms of the secondary, I posted this earlier, but I seriously think we should consider putting Ginn in for spot secondary duty.

He's fast, he's played secondary before, and he showed he could tackle pretty good this year.  He got plenty of chances with the Ints our QBs kept serving up.  Watch the Buffalo game, (the second one)  he made two nice tackles, including one where he had to traverse the entire field to catch the interceptor.

Does this signing also mean Cameron Worrell is history now?  Or is he also going to play on Special Teams?

[simeon]

In terms of the secondary, I posted this earlier, but I seriously think we should consider putting Ginn in for spot secondary duty.

He's fast, he's played secondary before, and he showed he could tackle pretty good this year.  He got plenty of chances with the Ints our QBs kept serving up.  Watch the Buffalo game, (the second one)  he made two nice tackles, including one where he had to traverse the entire field to catch the interceptor.

Does this signing also mean Cameron Worrell is history now?  Or is he also going to play on Special Teams?

Is this serious ? Ginn can't even break away running routes what makes you believe he can cover people in routes ? Because someone is really fast it doesn't make them a football player, the jury is still out after Ginns disappointing rookie season.

[fyo]

Ginn can't even break away running routes what makes you believe he can cover people in routes ?

He didn't get to run deep nearly as often as he should have and when he did, the play was clearly designed to go short. The sad fact is that our QBs either couldn't, wouldn't or weren't allowed to take shots down field most of last season.

On the few plays where we actually got to see "the big picture" on a play, Ginn was usually wide open deep.

[Rick]

  This is a good move by Miami to bring in Keith Davis.  He will compete for a starting safety position and will solidify our special teams unit.  The braintrust of Miami is familiar with Davis, so they obviously like his abilities.  I still hope we draft a safety, either Tom Zebikowski? of Notre Dame or Jamie Silva of Boston College.  Both would make outstanding additions to the Miami Dolphins.

[MUCPhin]

^^^  Please, anyone but Tom Zebikowski, he can't cover a limp noodle.  I think Keith Traylor standing in the secondary doing the truffle shuffle would distract more receivers than Zebikoski. 

In terms of the secondary, I posted this earlier, but I seriously think we should consider putting Ginn in for spot secondary duty.

He's fast, he's played secondary before, and he showed he could tackle pretty good this year.  He got plenty of chances with the Ints our QBs kept serving up.  Watch the Buffalo game, (the second one)  he made two nice tackles, including one where he had to traverse the entire field to catch the interceptor.

If thsi were to happen TG may be the first person in history to live this situation: Recruited out of high school as the #1 Cornerback in the nation, play WR throughout college, then switch back to defense in the NFL.  That would be interesting

 

[bsfins]

Am I the only one that sees this move as...Mediocre, a Blah pick up...It's saying all the right thing.He'll be brought in to compete for the starters job stuff...He's a special teams pick up...No threat to Unseat the starting safties....  

I'd actually like to see some one brought in,that would actually push the starters..at 29 years old...I just see it as...a whatever type move...

[fyo]

Am I the only one that sees this move as...Mediocre, a Blah pick up...

I disagree. This is adding the quality depth that the last 5 years of drafting should have given our roster. It may not be spectacular, but it's critical to the success of our team over the course of a whole season.

There's still a limit to how many injuries we can cope with, but we've just been way too fragile in recent years.

I also firmly believe that competition for the starting job - even if it's by bringing in someone who's slightly worse that what you already have - makes everyone better. Players simply respond to being challenged and up their game (the alternative being to ride the pine).

So, yeah, it might seem "blah", but it's critical.

[bsfins]

He's 29..He has little upside if any.....He's mostly known for getting shot twice in his career....It's depth....it's the term "Quality" that I disagree with...He's a special teamer Plain and simple...not an upgrade to our secondary....

I give him the Same shot as being our starter...as I do..Matt Baker being our starting QB this year...

Sorry modified to clarify (I keep getting interupted by the damn phone) I'm not discounting the importance of the special teams,but I just don't think it's move to improve the Secondary....

[YoFuggedaboutit]

This guy is 29 and as good as he's going to get.  If he's captain of the special teams then he must be a good special teams player, but I doubt he's gonna be starting.... especially with Yeremiah Bell being re-signed and Jason Allen's improvement towards the end of last season. 

[doctord56]

He's not going to be a starter, but he's a better backup than anyone the team has now in that role. More importantly, he's signed mainly to play a key role on special teams.

This is an inexpensive addition to the roster, that makes the team just a little bit better. Parcells and ireland are trying to slowly and gradually, bit by bit, upgrade what was the worst roster in the NFL. Little moves like this hopefully will accumulate over time into a competitive team.