Utah Cornerback Elijah “Scooby” Davis’ Has Newfound Confidence, Leadership

Aug 13, 2025, 11:00 AM

Utah Insider

SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah football continues to gear up for the 2025 season, Elijah “Scooby” Davis will play a significant role in elevating the level of play in the Utes’ secondary.

Coming off a solid 2024 season, Davis has gained valuable experience that has led to a totally new-look corner. It’s clear that the past year has led to newfound confidence and it sounds like that’s made an all-around impact.

Last season, Davis was still finding his footing in Utah’s secondary. Now, that has changed. Davis is will hold down one of the starting jobs, and help lead the group into the season.

Making another watchlist is @SnowdenSmith‼️

Congrats for making the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭! This is given annually to the most outstanding defensive player in college football‼️

📰: https://t.co/ptdapX153C #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/RCglPlyYVC

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 11, 2025

Scooby’s experience has led to newfound confidence, potential

Davis says the difference between this fall camp and the last is night and day. “I feel more experienced,” he said. “Last year, I was still trying to learn the playbook. Now, I’m knowing the playbook, and I’m playing confidently, playing fast. So I feel a big improvement from last year’s fall camp to now.”

That’s an important step, as that should allow him to play more instinctively. But it’s also given him the bandwidth to help others — something he wasn’t in a position to do a year ago.

The offseason brought physical gains as well, which has led to results on the field. “I feel like in the offseason I’ve gained a lot of weight, so just coming up being more aggressive — I feel like that’s been the biggest difference so far,” he said.

That added physicality, paired with his experience, seems to have led to a much-improved player. But the real transformation has been in his willingness to step up, guide others, and set the tone for the position group.

Stepping up as a leader in the Utah cornerback room

Utah’s cornerback group has plenty of new faces, and Davis knows his role now extends beyond his own assignments.

“Just trying to bring along the transfers,” he explained. “I think me and Smith [Snowden] are really the only returners in the corner room that have played meaningful snaps. So we’re just trying to bring them along, helping them with the playbook, and just stuff like that.”

It’s a role that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Snowden has seen the change first-hand.

“Scoob gets better every single day, and he’s becoming a leader,” Snowden said. “If you knew Scoob maybe two years ago, you might not say that, but today Scoob’s a leader and everyone knows it.”

Davis has earned his role and has remained focused on his development. As a competitor, he isn’t into comparing himself to others, he stays focused on executing and improving.

“I don’t really look at other people, I just keep my focus on what I can do and just try to better myself every day,” he said.

That self-driven approach has carried over into how he evaluates teammates. Speaking about Blake Cotton, one of the contenders for the starting role opposite him, Davis has been quick to praise the progress.

“Oh, they’re definitely coming along real well from spring to now, man, the improvement, especially from Blake — Blake is a guy. He’s gotten better every day and is still getting better. He’s just a confident corner, like I said, from spring to now; big improvements.”

For Utah, having Davis take ownership of the cornerback room has been a recognizably big step in his development. It’s the natural next sequence for a player who gained the experience he did last season. Now, it’s about staying on this trend moving forward.

“It’s going well,” Davis summed up. “Just getting better every day.” And for Utah’s secondary, that improvement is happening in more ways than one.