Key Wisconsin Badgers: No. 5 - Wide Receiver Danny Davis III

Wisconsin's 2021 football season is right around the corner, so BadgerBlitz.com ranked the top 30 players who we think will be the keys to success for Paul Chryst's squad this year.

Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored into our staff rankings.

This spring, Wisconsin's wide receiver room welcomed back Danny Davis, who opted to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA. The fifth-year senior appeared in just two games in 2020 after he suffered a concussion against Michigan that sidelined him for the final five games of the season. The veteran receiver has played in 39 games and started in 15 contests across his career, totaling 99 receptions for 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns.

At 6-foot and 193 pounds, Davis is a dynamic threat both through the air and on jet sweeps. UW is hoping the 53-yard connection from Graham Mertz to Davis against Illinois this past season is a precursor for what's to come this fall.

On the ground, Davis has proved to be a reliable option with 24 rushes for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his career. He is also an option for Chris Haering and the punt return unit. Davis was been a part of the rotation of returners in the spring and has fielded eight punts during his career in Madison.

Finally, Davis has also been a key leader for younger receivers such as Chimere Dike and Devin Chandler, among others.

"(Davis and Kendric Pryor) have been great. Any time I have a question, they’ve been there since my freshman year. Really looking forward to playing with those guys more," Dike said of the senior receivers in the spring. "With Danny, his catch radius is what impresses me. He makes me want to go up and make every catch and make one-handed catches like he does."

After being behind Quintez Cephus in 2019 and missing the majority of this past fall with an injury, Davis has yet to establish himself as UW's No. 1 receiver. A former four-star recruit, Davis has shown the ability to be a special threat but will be asked to do so each week in 2021.

"Just being more consistent," Davis said when asked where he wants to improve. "Being a consistent receiver but also releases - a lot of technical things within our route running. Just a lot of technical things for me and detailing it so that I’m crisp and being a full, consistent receiver."

UW's offense greatly missed Davis and Pryor in 2020. With each back, Mertz and the offense will be looking to recreate the connection they shared to open this past season.

"As far as what we missed, we missed the experience of guys that know game situations, of guys that make plays in those tough situations," position coach Alvis Whitted said of his senior receivers. "We miss those down the field throws from Danny and KP, those guys that can take the top off a coverage. Really when those guys are out there, they’re different and they add a different dimension to our offense and the passing game."

With a full offseason to work with Whitted, Davis is in a position to properly finish his Wisconsin career by leading a group of receivers he thinks can be "explosive" this fall.

"Explosive, man," Davis said of the group's ceiling. "It’s not even just me and Kendric, we got Jack (Dunn), we got Chim (Dike), we got AJ Abbott, we got Devin Chandler, we got a bunch of guys that are all coming together.

"It’s been fun this spring to see what everyone can do and how everyone can attack it. It’s looking real good and we’re continuing to get better. This summer is going to be real big for us to continue to work on our craft and get with Graham and the quarterbacks to get our timing down."