In the sport of football, no position epitomizes more the adage of the impact that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet as the role of nose tackle. Yet DJ Davidson, in some regards, defied that notion with the formidable stats he put up during his Sun Devil tenure. The graduate of Mesa Desert Edge High School, who became of the most successful local products to play for Arizona State in recent years, was drafted in the fifth round and the 147th selection overall by the New York Giants.

In his four-year Tempe tenure, Davidson posted 137 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, including five sacks and six passes defended. As a redshirt sophomore in 2019, The nose tackle already made his presence known, starting 12 of 13 games collecting 51 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Davidson that year made at least one tackle in all 13 games, finishing with four or more in eight games.

In the shortened 2020 four-game campaign, he started all four games for recording 15 tackles, with 1.5 for loss with a sack. Even in limited appearances, Davidson still finished 11th among league interior linemen with ten pressures forced.

Last season, Davidson placed fifth on the team with 57 total tackles, one shy of a tie for third on the team. And was named the Curley Culp Outstanding defensive linemen for ASU. He’s just one of two Sun Devils to start all 12 games on defense this past season. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the 20th-highest-graded defender overall in the Pac-12 (76.0), regardless of position, and the third-highest graded defensive interior lineman in the league; 15th-highest-graded defender in the league on run defense (77.7) and tops among interior linemen. His 31 defensive "stops" on run defense this year were good for second in the FBS among interior linemen, behind only Cincinnati's Curtis Brooks.