FSU RB Kam Davis focused on building speed in pursuit of instant impact

It can truly be said that Kam Davis has been waiting nearly three years for this.

Davis, a four-star running back prospect out of Albany (Ga.) Dougherty High, committed to Florida State back in February 2021, months after finishing his freshman season and nearly a full year before anyone else joined FSU's 2024 recruiting class.

In January, Davis finally got to officially join a football team he's considered himself a part of for nearly three years after a commitment that remained 100% locked once he made it.

"Just to be able to get here has been a blessing," Davis said in his first interview at FSU Wednesday. "Being committed three years, it showed that I have a lot of trust in the coaching staff and they have a lot of trust in me. Being able to come and be able to work with the guys, it's truly a blessing."

While some freshmen arrive on campus looking like they'll need some time in FSU's strength and conditioning program, that is certainly not the case for Davis. At 5-foot-10, 220 pounds, Davis arrives at FSU with remarkable muscle mass for an incoming freshman and appears physically ready to be a freshman contributor for the Seminoles.

He credits his time spent in the weight room with his uncle starting in 9th or 10th grade for his form as he steps onto campus.

Davis was tasked with playing quarterback for his South Georgia high-school team. He finished his time at Dougherty with 5,575 passing yards, 40 passing touchdowns, 3,157 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.

He believes that time at quarterback as a prospect will help his overall understanding of FSU's offense as he grows more comfortable this offseason.

"Playing quarterback, it helped me a lot. It helped with my field awareness, IQ of the game and also being able to help the line out," Davis said. "Knowing everyone's assignments on the field, it'll help me at running back because I'll know what blocks to pick up, what the line has and the quarterback assignment."

One consistent thing we hear from FSU newcomers this time of year is how intense FSU's Tour of Duty offseason workouts are. Davis, being committed so long, has had the opportunity to watch plenty of FSU workouts before enrolling.

But even watching couldn't prepare Davis for exactly how intense Tour of Duty is for the members of the FSU roster.

"I'm doing pretty good in them," Davis said of the workouts. "Seeing them, I thought they would be a lot easier than they are. But being here, being able to participate in Tour of Duty, it's been a real challenge."

Davis is appreciative that many of the Tour of Duty workouts are based on building conditioning and speed -- particularly the latter -- as that's something he is looking to improve on this offseason before trying to carve out a role in year one.

"So far, I've been mainly working on building speed. The workouts, a lot of them focus on speed and conditioning so I've been taking that real heavy," Davis said. "I've also been keeping receipts on Twitter. I've seen a lot of people saying I don't have top-end speed so that's what I'm trying to work towards."

With Trey Benson off to the NFL and Rodney Hill transferring out of the program, things seem to be lining up for Davis, who was the No. 121 overall prospect and No. 6 running back in the 2024 class, to potentially make an immediate impact for the Seminoles in 2024.

FSU returns Lawrance Toafili and Caziah Holmes and added Alabama transfer Roydell Williams through the transfer portal. Still, the deep running back rotation Mike Norvell likes to utilize should open up the possibility for Davis, who sure looks and talks like he's ready to contribute, to break into the rotation right away.

For now, though, that's not a talking point. Davis is keeping his nose to the grindstone thanks to some sage advice from FSU running backs coach David Johnson.

"Right now, the conversation is more just getting the work in and progressing. Coach YAC, we haven't had conversations about who is going to start, who is going to play the most, nothing like that," Davis said. "He just wants all the running backs on the whole team to be able to get the work in, be able to succeed and feed off each other."

Follow The Osceola on Facebook

Follow The Osceola on Twitter

Subscribe to the Osceola's YouTube channel

Subscribe to the Osceola's podcasts on Apple