Ray Davis modeling game after Maurice Jones-Drew as he flexes versatility

In just five weeks, Ray Davis went from being known simply as “the Vanderbilt transfer” to being declared one of the top running backs in all of college football. His most recent outing for Kentucky — a 33-14 win over Florida — was his official coming-out party to the rest of the country: 26 carries, 280 yards, three touchdowns (plus one more through the air), and every national offensive player of the week award you can think of.

Davis is even creeping his way into the NFL Draft conversation as a result of his early-season play. Both ESPN and the Reese’s Senior Bowl committee think the one-time Commodore can find his way into the league. Although he measures in at roughly 5-foot-9, 215 pounds, it’s his versatility that will stick out to NFL scouts and front-office executives. That’s what can get him to the next level and it’s what makes him so tough to slow down right now.

“I’d rather make a highlight catch (than a highlight run). I want to show how versatile I am,” Davis said Tuesday on the SEC Network. “I’m not just a one-dimension back. I can do it all. I can pass-block, I can catch, and I can run. Also, the defensive coordinator, you gotta pick and choose. Either you’re gonna stop the run or stop the pass. I can do both. I can go out there and line up in the slot and I can give your safeties and linebackers some work, or I can get up behind the box and run it.

“Just having that ability to be multi-dimensional. I never want to put myself in a box. You look at the running backs today in the NFL today, that’s the way it goes — being able to be a three-down back and being able to do a lot of different things.”

Davis sure has proven to be the full package through five games this season. He’s racked up 594 rushing yards (tops in the Southeastern Conference, fourth in the country) and eight rushing touchdowns (also tops in the SEC, tied for second in the country). He’s averaging nearly eight yards per rush and accumulates the majority of his yards after contact. But again, it’s not all about the ground game.

Through the air, Davis has caught 11 balls for 146 yards and three more touchdowns. He also possesses top-end speed. Davis recorded the fastest run in all college football last week, topping out at 21.7 MPH during his career-long 75-yard touchdown trot. It’s all of these traits mashed together into one football player that make him such an interesting draft prospect.

Davis even likens himself to a pair of talented NFL running backs who share similar traits to his play style. One is current Detroit Lions tailback David Montgomery — who has rushed for at least 800 yards in all four of his NFL seasons so far — and the other is former Jacksonville Jaguars ball carrier Maurice Jones-Drew, a three-time Pro Bowler who was also undersized and hails from California, just like Davis.

“I’d say David Montgomery,” Davis said when asked about his NFL comparison. “He has that ability to be a hard-nosed runner. He can get up to his second level. I like what he does. He just had a monster game this past Monday night I’m pretty sure, so looking at him and looking at what he does — Thursday night — what he does and stuff like that. If I take it way, way back, I would have to say Maurice Jones-Drew. That’s a guy from where I’m from in California. I love what he did at UCLA and I love what he did with the Jaguars. He had the heart-over-height demeanor going into the league and he was just dominant.”

Jones-Drew was a unanimous All-American during his final college season at UCLA in 2005. Can Davis do the same with the Wildcats?