Former Kentucky football stars and current NFL rookies Ray Davis and Dru Phillips have not only earned playing time, but have had standout performances so far this season.
First, Davis scored his first NFL career touchdown on Monday night in Buffalo’s 47-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
His three-yard run into the endzone came with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter and was the final of six touchdowns the Bills put up in the game.
He finished the game with seven carries for 22 yards, including one run that went for ten yards, and he caught his only receiving target for one yard.
So far this season, Davis has 19 carries for 64 yards and three receptions for 14 yards while serving in a backup role behind James Cook along with Ty Johnson.
Davis spent one season at Kentucky following two seasons at Temple and two at Vanderbilt. In his lone season as a Wildcat, he rushed for 1,129 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and scored 21 total touchdowns.
After having a successful season, he was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round (128th overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft and impressed coaches in training camp on his way to earning a good amount of playing time in the regular season.
Looking at the other former Cat thriving, Phillips, who was drafted in the third round by the New York Giants in April, also impressed his coaches early on and earned the starting nickelback position.
He played an incredible game in week two, totaling 12 tackles and one sack while playing the majority of the snaps in a 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders.
After that game, former NFL safety and current analyst Ryan Clark had high praise for Phillips, tweeting, “Dru Phillips is going to be an (absolute) stud at the nickel position in this league.”
Last weekend against the Cleveland Browns he totaled one tackle before leaving the game due to a calf injury.
Because of that injury, Phillips was ruled out for the Giants’ Thursday night contest against the Dallas Cowboys, but once he returns he will look to continue his run as a key piece of the Giants’ secondary.
Meanwhile, Davis and the undefeated Bills will travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens on Sunday night, kicking off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
