40 DAYS TO KICKOFF: Hunter Davis

Note: No. 40 actually is Ryan Mueller, who changed from No. 72 this summer, but since I already profiled Mueller here, I'll stick with my original plan — profiling grayshirt freshman Hunter Davis.

Hunter Davis True Freshman 6-3 | 246 Choctaw, Okla. Bio

Position: Defensive End Previous College: None Projection: Redshirt Status: On Scholarship

Hunter Davis (b. Dec. 12, 1992) is listed at 246 pounds on his official Rivals.com profile, but that's an outdated measurement. By all credible reports, he's at least 270. That means he could be ready to play as a true freshman.

As with Marquel Bryant and Ian Seau, I am sure the coaches would prefer to keep Davis' redshirt on and let him become acclimated to the Division I level. But they might not have that luxury.

If Adam Davis struggles to recover from his injury, Brandon Harold continues to be mired in inconsistency and Laton Dowling isn't ready to be a two-deep player yet, Hunter might be called up to offset weak-side end Meshak Williams.

Hunter collected 59 tackles his senior season (30 were solo, 34 assisted) and three sacks. Continuing the theme of NFL bloodlines that is so prevalent in this 2011 class, he's distantly related to New England Patriots WR Wes Welker.

UPDATE: I originally wrote this entry before the roster was updated — and Hunter Davis is not on it.

Apparently, the recruiting services never picked up on the fact that Davis is a grayshirt who will not be on scholarship until spring 2012. So much for him playing this season, unless something changes at the last minute.

The same is true of freshman Mike Moore, who also apparently will be grayshirting. But I expected Moore to redshirt, so that isn't as major a change as Davis not being here.