Film Room: Marquise Davis

Cleveland (Ohio) Heights junior Marquise Davis was one of the top targets on Kentucky’s recruiting board in the 2025 cycle. Despite having official visits in June locked in with Michigan and Tennessee, the four-star tailback decided to end his recruitment in May.

The No. 183 overall player in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking and top-10 player in Ohio went on Kentucky Sports Radio with Matt Jones on Wednesday and committed to the Wildcats. Vince Marrow has locked up one of the top targets on Kentucky’s high school recruiting board.

What will Marquise Davis bring to Lexington? The rising junior is a 200-pound downhill runner who breaks tackles and keeps his offense ahead of the chains. Davis consistently wins with contact balance and feel for the position.

Yards After Contact

Kentucky has produced seven 1,000-yard rushers since 2016. Outside of Lynn Bowden Jr. running a permanent wildcat offense in 2019 and Boom Williams hitting a ton of explosives in 2016, every other star rusher has been a 200-plus pound tailback who could break tackles.

Ray Davis, Chris Rodriguez Jr., and Benny Snell Jr. could create after contact. Marquise Davis checks that box in a big way.

Davis nearly always bounces off the first contact and that allows him to bust carries for explosive gains. The tailback runs through defenders and typically does a good job of keeping his balance. Those broken tackles were the main reason why Davis recorded nearly nine yards per rush last season. The 2025 prospect is a north/south runner who creates yards after contact. There is value in that.

The four-star prospect is a good fit for Kentucky due to his ability to get downhill and break tackles.

Rushing instincts

The power and the ability to create something out of nothing is a big deal, but it does not carry much weight without football instincts. Tailbacks must have a good feel for the position, and sometimes running the football is an art form. Players must have a good knowledge of what each play design is attempting to accomplish, but more times than not, instincts have to take over at full speed.

You see some good football feel from Marquise Davis on tape.

Even with defenders approaching, the tailback does not panic and finds open daylight showing off an explosive vertical cut to spring to daylight. But this also doesn’t have to be complicated. If your offensive linemen are dominating and creating vertical movement behind a double team just run it up in there behind them.

Davis flashes a good feel for the position and that makes him intriguing as a prospect.

A natural fit for Kentucky

Marquise Davis will likely end up being one of Kentucky’s highest-ranked players in the class of 2025. The Wildcats now have another recruiting win over Michigan in a recruiting rivalry that keeps growing. That will surround Davis heading into his first year at Kentucky, but the fit on the football field is obvious.

The Cleveland (Ohio) Heights tailback is a downhill runner who wants to get north/south quickly. The long speed isn’t terrific, but that is not where Davis will make his mark at the next level. The tailback plays with good instincts and can break tackles. Kentucky has taken back with a similar profile and developed them into All-SEC players and draft picks.

Marquise Davis is a great fit for what Kentucky wants to do in the running game. The top-200 prospect should have a chance to make a splash as a true freshman in 2025.