Versatile Marlon Davidson learning quickly to help Atlanta Falcons defensive line as rookie

Amid the learning curve and uncertainty experienced by all NFL rookies, Marlon Davidson found some comfort in the Iron Bowl.

The Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman, a second-round pick out of Auburn, is coached by both sides of Alabama’s fierce college football rivalry. The defensive line coaches are Tosh Lupoi, a former Alabama Crimson Tide assistant, and former Buford High coach Jess Simpson, who played football at Auburn.

“Me and Tosh have this love-hate relationship because he (coached at) Bama,” Davidson said at training camp this week. “I don’t buy in with that. I don’t like Alabama at all. That’s the only type of hate we have toward each other because of our schools. Coach Simpson, he’s an Auburn guy. Me and Coach Simpson, we talk every day. He tries to teach me how to become better, what I can work on to be better, just different things like that. It’s hard being a rookie. I can really tell you that. It’s hard. You don’t know what’s coming. You don’t know how to get yourself out of it. You have to just do it.”

Plenty is expected from Davidson as a rookie. Along with top free agent acquisition Dante Fowler, Davidson is a player the Falcons need to produce all along the defensive front.

“I’ve played pretty much everywhere, like (head coach Dan Quinn) was saying, I’m playing a little more inside than outside,” Davidson said. “But shoot, wherever you put me at, I’m going to go. That ain’t the biggest thing about me. I just want to be on the field and be able to show my athleticism and be able to create havoc.”

The versatility to play tackle or end was a big factor in Atlanta drafting him so high.

“I think what (Davidson’s highlights) showed was here was a big guy and if the weight is right he can really move,” Quinn said. “So, for him, the most effective for us was seeing him at 295 pounds. You saw him at defensive end so many times, so he’ll play some defensive end but we’ll also slide him into defensive tackle where he can use that quickness and use that speed to beat somebody to the punch. I’ve been real impressed so far with his discipline. Weight is exactly where it should be, and so when you send messages like that as a rookie to say, ‘Hey man, this is where you want me to be. This is where I’m at.’ You do what you say you’re going to do. That’s certainly been the case so far with Marlon with us here.”

The playing weight the Falcons like for the 6-foot-3 Davidson is 295 pounds.

“I came in 295, I’m 296 right now, so I’m maintaining my weight goal, which is the weight they wanted me to be at,” Davidson said. “When the pads come on and you start running a little more, the weight starts coming off, but they want me to maintain around this weight.”

He has been both lighter and heavier than 295 at times, playing closer to 275-280 at Auburn and weighing 303 at the NFL Combine. He said he has been disciplined with his diet at the recommendation of his NFL team.

“It’s hard. You want that little fried food here and there, that little burger,” Davidson said. “Being able to stay consistent with yourself, stay consistent with your diet is important. Cheating on your diet means you’re going to cheat in your life some way. I’ve got to be able to stay true to myself and stay true to the cause and to myself and what I want to be. I feel like me and Steven Benjamin, our nutritionist, we’ve been locked on it and we’re going to continue to be locked in and continue to do right for myself and also right by the team.”

A different type of hunger — a desire to play football — was the biggest reason Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff liked Davidson. His hustle made him a four-year starter at Auburn, where he played in 51 games with 175 tackles, 29 1/2 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, nine passes defended, four forced fumbles, three blocks and four fumble recoveries, along with earning All-American honors in 2019.

“Usually you’re trying to find a hunger index on a guy to see where they’re at and this guy loves football,” Quinn said. “It shows in his play. From the scouts who went to practice, it shows in the way he practices. Being around him and hearing him talk about different techniques or things he’s been involved with, it just came across so strong and clear about how much he loved to compete and play. So, all of those attributes, you put them together and the willingness is there to get better, the effort, all of that factors in. I think he’s got a big future. I really do feel that way.”

Davidson plays football for the love of the game, but also for his late mother, Cynthia Carter, who died from blood clot complications in 2015. She was just 47.

“I wake up every day to a picture on my phone of my mother,” Davidson said. “I’m serious. Every day on my alarm, ‘Do it for Momma.’ When I wake up every day, that’s what I do it for.”

Atlanta Falcons