The surprising Texas freshman pushing for playing time
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AUSTIN, Texas — Derrek Cooper. Jermaine Bishop. Richard Wesley. Rocky Cummings. Toray Davis?
Four of the five freshmen named by Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday as forcing their way onto the field this fall based on their performances in preseason camp were predictably buzzy inclusions after receiving numerous mentions by Sarkisian and players over the last month.
But Toray Davis?
It was really the first time the Boulder (Colo.) Fairview product’s name came up since arriving on campus in January.
And it was all the more surprising because Davis is one of the least-hyped recruits in the No. 6-ranked 2026 recruiting class for the Longhorns, for multiple reasons.
One reason is the 6’1, 197-pounder was a modestly-ranked prospect — in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Davis was a consensus low four-star recruit slotted as the No. 399 player nationally and the No. 19 athlete, placing him 15th among the 23 non-specialists signed by Texas in the last cycle.
The context around Davis’ recruitment also contributed to him flying under the radar. During the summer, Davis took official visits to Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and UCLA, hardly recruiting heavyweights, eventually pledging to the Bruins while in Westwood in late June.
During the fall, the first few games of Davis’ senior season sparked some more interest as Wisconsin and Arizona State offered, leading to an official visit to Madison in mid-October right before Indiana officially entered his recruitment. A week after the Hoosiers offered, the Longhorns did as well, as did the Huskies, with Washington getting Davis to Seattle late in the month.
The impactful official visit, though, was to Austin for the Texas A&M game, and Davis flipped to Texas the day before the early signing period, and inked with the Horns on ESD.
So while adding another defensive back to the class was a positive development based on a late evaluation, the combination of the whirlwind recruitment of Davis, the fact that he wasn’t a flip from a rival like Texas A&M, as similarly-ranked linebacker prospect Ty’Anthony Smith was in 2024, and his modest rankings made Davis one of the least notable recruits in the class.
The lack of testing times contributed, too, and impacted his rankings despite a monster senior season that saw Davis post a huge all-purpose season on offense, leading the state in receiving yards (1,557) and total touchdowns (39), registering 62 carries for 535 yards (8.6 ypc) and 23 touchdowns, including one 100-yard rushing performance, and grabbing 70 receptions for 1,557 yards (22.2 ypc) and 16 touchdowns. On defense, Davis flashed his projectability to his future position by totaling 56 tackles, including 3.0 tackles for loss, six interceptions, and seven pass breakups.
The production as a senior didn’t come out of nowhere, either, as Davis scored 17 touchdowns as a junior while intercepting four passes, forcing three fumbles, and recovering a fumble after notching four interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, and a fumble recovery as a sophomore.
Davis has some pedigree, as well — his father, Elton Tory Davis, was a defensive back at Colorado State in the mid-90s.
The ball skills that Davis honed as a wide receiver show up on defense — he’s a natural catcher of the football and showcased his instincts and ability to show up around the ball with his 14 career interceptions in high school. His physicality shows up on both sides of the ball, with his willingness to lower his shoulder to deliver hits along the sideline or to find the end zone to finish a catch or run, but there’s surely been an emphasis on cleaning up his tackling technique to square up opponents better since arriving on the Forty Acres. On defense, Davis mostly looks smooth with his movement ability. On offense, though, there’s some real breakaway ability against his competition level, although his overall speed projects as closer to above average rather than elite absent more conclusive GPS tracking.
The headline news is that Davis is on a trajectory ahead of his anticipated developmental curve, and while that hasn’t yet translated into a spot in the safety rotation that currently features four experienced players the coaches are comfortable with — he needs actual playing time for that — look for Davis on special teams and potentially on defense against Texas State and UTSA before growing into a bigger role in the future.
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