He is one of three Longhorns to catch 200 passes and 2,700 yards in their careers.
But, while the other two — Jordan Shipley and Roy William — had the luxury of playing with some of the top passers in school history, senior wide receiver Mike Magic Davis’ 49-game career consisted of three different quarterbacks starting 10 games or more.
Davis finished 4th on Texas’ all-time receiving yards and receptions list, as well as 5th in receiving touchdowns.
In 2010, Davis was one of the few bright spots of the abysmal 5-7 season. He hauled in a UT freshman single-season record 47 passes for 478 yards — third most for a UT freshman — and tied for the team-lead with two touchdown receptions.
Following a strong freshman campaign, expectations were high for Davis, but inconsistency at the quarterback position produced some trouble for the receiver’s season. Davis caught three passes for 115 yards in the opener against Rice, which would be his only 100-yard receiving game for the year. He failed to record a catch in the game against BYU, and at times appeared to lack focus and effort as the quarterback carousel went from Garrett Gilbert to a rotation of David Ash and Case McCoy.
Davis appeared to enter 2012 with his mind set on living up to his middle name — Magic. With Texas’ quarterback position settled, Davis proceeded to have a breakout year as the Longhorns’ primary deep threat. Davis set career-highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, including four 100-yard receiving games, one more than he had recorded in his first two seasons combined.
Despite reports of entering the 2013 NFL Draft, Davis decided to stay at Texas for his senior season. As Texas’ top receiver, Davis caught 13 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns in Texas’ first two games before Texas lost Ash to a concussion. From then on, Davis was only as consistent as his quarterback, playing at an elite level against West Virginia and Texas Tech, but largerly a non-factor at other times, including logging a measley 26 total yards in his last two games.
Davis finished 2013 with a career-high eight touchdowns in a single season and was voted second team All-Big 12 by the Associated Press.
He participated in the 2014 Senior Bowl and reportedly impressed some NFL scouts during practices, although he only hauled in three passes for 20 yards in the game. Davis is projected to be a middle-round draft choice by most scouting reports, which is the same range Marquise Goodwin was reported to be in when entering the 2013 NFL Draft. Goodwin ran an unofficial 4.25 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, which resulted in him being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the draft.
While Davis doesn’t have the same Olympic speed as Goodwin, he is much less raw at the receiver position. At around 6-feet-2-inches, Davis is undersized to play the traditional deep-threat role in the NFL, so he will have to have a good showing at the combine and Texas’ pro day to be picked on the draft’s second day.
