Keenan Davis set to make full impact for Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Keenan Davis looks like a starting wide receiver. He stands 6-foot-3, boasts a slender physique and - thanks to a few years in the weight room - carries lean and defined muscle on his 220-pound frame. 

Now, entering his junior year, the former Cedar Rapids Washington star must act like a starting wide receiver.

"The biggest thing right now Keenan has to focus on is doing his job as well as he can," Iowa offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe said. "If he does that and performs well, that will elevate other people's performances at the position as well."

Davis came to Iowa full of hype in 2009 and played in every game as a true freshman, but caught just four passes for 55 yards. Last year as a sophomore, Davis saw more action on both offense and special teams. He caught 11 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown and returned nine kickoffs for 175 yards.

But Davis has yet to make the full impact that many expect. Strike that; he has yet to live up to his own expectations. He struggled to conform to Big Ten play as an underclassmen, less from a physical standpoint but more from recognizing on-field situations.

Davis, 20, twice was an elite all-state receiver at Washington. He caught 169 passes for 2,602 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career. Nationally he was a top 100 player and one of Cedar Rapids' most celebrated football players in recent memory. But he had yet to adapt from tipping the field every down in high school to being just another good athlete on the field in college.

"Learning the college level of receiver is a little bit different," Iowa receivers coach Erik Campbell said. "You have to read more coverages; defenses do a lot of different things. We have a lot of great defensive coaches playing against you. So you have to know what to do, what to expect, studying film, practicing hard, all the expectations that come into it. Just run a route and turn around, it's not over. You have to make the catch and at the same time, be in the same rhythm with the quarterback."

Davis acknowledges his early struggles.

"When you come in, you've got to read defenses. I didn't know how to do that," Davis said. "You come in, and you've got to learn a lot. Some people learn slower than others. If you can't go out there and produce or you can't go out there and be the person that can read defenses or know when a blitz is coming, you can't play."

But much has changed for Davis in the last year. He has developed confidence in his approach. He's more complete in his reads on the field and he attacks workouts in the weight room and practice fields. He sets an example on the practice fields that his teammates have began to follow. It's part of his transformation from follower to leader.

"Physically he's a much different guy," O'Keefe said. "From a maturity standpoint, he's now developing into a leader. We need him to step up and really be the leader that position needs. Marvin (McNutt is) doing a great job, but it's hard to do all that stuff by yourself."

Ah, leadership. That's the intangible that Davis exuded in high school. Twice he was a team captain in football. He led Washington to the Class 4A state track title and was a solid performer in basketball. For media, Davis was the go-to guy in postgame interviews and projected an aura of leadership. At Iowa, however, Davis learned leadership is more than just saying the right thing in front of the microphone; it's the total package.

"I thought I knew everything about being a leader coming out of Wash," Davis said. "When you're that guy at Wash, you have such good team camaraderie coming out of Wash, coming here, I was like, ‘Wow, this is different.' You've got to do a lot of stuff to be a leader here. You've got to have the trust of the whole staff of the whole team, and it's a lot of guys out there doing the same thing that you're doing."

Davis, an interdepartmental studies major, has earned his teammates' trust with his spring performance. He was the elder performer in team drills with senior Marvin McNutt out following surgery. Davis attacked every route in practice and in side-throwing sessions. He blocked defensive backs downfield. And, according to senior cornerback Shaun Prater, Davis "catches everything that comes his way."

Davis credits all of the receivers he's worked with - from all-time catches record-holder Derrell Johnson-Koulianos to walk-on Nick Kuchel - for shaping his work ethic and development as a receiver. Campbell said Davis is "bigger, stronger" than Johnson-Koulianos. But Davis bristles at comparisons with other receivers.

"I'm not DJ. I'm not Marvin. I'm Keenan," Davis said. "Everybody's their own guy. You've got to know your role and be the best you can."

Davis' role now is to play opposite McNutt and develop an on-field relationship with junior quarterback James Vandenberg. Davis' teammates and coaches say he has the talent, the physical attributes and mental makeup to become a gamebreaker at wide receiver. Now it's time for him to prove them right.

"I feel like it'll be a time where you'll see Keenan Davis be the person that you thought he'd be coming out of high school," McNutt said.