For a player with a large ‘hunger index’, Marlon Davidson has done a top-class job, staying at his game weight, since joining the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
“I came in at 295 (pounds),” Davidson said during a news conference Tuesday. “I’m currently 296, so I’m keeping my weight goal. I kept the weight they wanted me to, that was 295. When pads come on and things like that, you start running a little more, you start falling. They try to make sure I stay consistent about this weight and be able to move and be loose. …
“It’s hard. You want that little fried food here and there, that little burger. But just being able to stay consistent with yourself and stay consistent with your diet, cheating on your diet means you’ll somehow cheat on life.I had to be able to stay true to myself, stay true to the cause and what I want to be and what I want to be.I feel like me and Steven Benjamin, our nutritionist, we’re trapped and locked in to it sit and will continue to do directly by myself and also do well by the team. “
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said the team gained weight after watching the defensive lineman at Auburn.
“I think what it showed here was a big boy, and if the weight is good, he can really move,” Quinn said, “so for him it was most effective for us to see him at 295 pounds. You saw him so many times on defensive end.He will play some defensive end, but we will also commit him to defensive approach, where he can use that speed and that speed can use to hit someone on the punch, so I’m so far to really be impressed with his discipline.
‘Weight is exactly where it’s supposed to be, so if you’re sending messages like that like a rookie saying,’ Hey, this is where you want me to be, this is where I am, ‘you’ll be doing what you say. . That has certainly been the case so far with Marlon here with us. ”
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Quinn said the hunger index has nothing to do with food; it’s about how much a player wants on the football field.
“Normally you try to find a hunger index on a man to see where they are,” Quinn said, “and this man loves football. It shows in his play, and of the scouts who went to practice. , shows it in the way he practiced.And being around him and hearing him talk about different techniques and things he had been through, it just came out so strong and clear about how much he loved to compete and And so all those attributes, you put them together, the willingness is there to get better, the effort, all those factors.
‘I think he has a really great future. I really feel that way. ‘
Davidson’s love for football was evident when he spoke on Tuesday about the Falcons’ first practice in pads.
“I thought it was a game,” said the former Greenville High School stand. ‘It was great, man. It was great that I could be there. There are a lot of people who want to ride. You know what I mean? You have not been in pads for 282 days, I would say. Just around there. That’s a very long time, so when you put those pads on, people start coming out of the woodwork and being, ‘Hey, it’s time to go now.’
‘It feels good, man. It felt great, in fact – not good. It felt great. ”
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“Playing a little more inside than outside” in the Atlanta defense, Davidson said he learned “how to be a pro” from Faldy’s defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. But that does not mean that Davidson is a shy rookie.
‘I go out and worry about myself, go out and be the best person I can be, the best football player I can be, the best teammate I can be and be a leader, even though I’m still a young boy, ”said Davidson. ‘Learn some younger boys, some older boys. Sometimes a different perspective can help you. I just came from Auburn University, so I have a lot of football background, knew a lot of things, see different things, so come here, I’ll learn from them and they can learn some things from me too. ‘
Davidson also learns from defensive tackles coach Tosh Lupoi and Sim Simson for defensive tackles. Lupoi coached five seasons at Alabama, including as the defensive coordinator of Crimson Tide in 2018. Simpson is a former Auburn tight end.
“Toshy and I have had this love-hate relationship since he went to Bama,” Davidson said. ‘I do not like Alabama at all. That’s the only kind of hatred we have against each other, because of our schools. But coach Simpson, he’s an Auburn man. Me and coach Simpson, we talk every day. He’s trying to teach me how to get better, what I can work on to get better and just different things like that.
‘It’s hard to be a rookie. I can really tell you that. It is difficult. “
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.
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