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It’s not very often that a player will convert from quarterback to nose guard, but that’s exactly what Nico Davillier did following his freshman year at Maumelle.
The move seems to have paid off. Two years later, Davillier is a four-star prospect and committed to play college football at Arkansas, turning down offers from the likes of Oklahoma, Nebraska and others.
Despite most kids dreaming of playing quarterback, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound athlete has fully embraced playing in the trenches, said Silas Nellums, who was his defensive line coach the last two years before recently taking a job at North Little Rock.
“Of course it was something different, but he didn’t complain,” Nellums said. “He did what he had to do for the team just because he had grown into that position. It sounds weird, but he really liked being able to go from being hit to the person that was doing more of the hitting.”
It didn’t take long for the coaches at Maumelle to realize they had something special on their hands. After just one season at the position, Davillier exploded on the recruiting trail last summer.
Even without being able to attend camps and get in front of coaches because of the pandemic, he still received nine Power Five offers before playing a snap his junior year. Six of those offers were from the SEC, including in-state Arkansas.
“Honestly, there was never a doubt,” Nellums said. “Just seeing how versatile he was and just his footwork, his ability to pick up things so quickly, to use his hands, his speed off the line, hit get-off, all of those things, I knew - we all knew - that it was going to translate to him having an opportunity to play collegiate sports.”
Davillier was still used as a quarterback in some red zone and short-yardage situations last season, even rushing for three touchdowns, but he made his living on the other side of the ball. As a junior, he finished with 39 tackles - including 10 for loss and three sacks - and one forced fumble.
Nellums said his biggest area of improvement over the last couple of years has been the usage of his hands, which is understandable because it is a more technical aspect of playing on the defensive line.
“Being a defensive lineman, a lot of people see the hits or they see them plugging gaps, but you have to be able to have explosive hands and good placement of hands and an understanding of where your hands have to go to be able to defeat the blocker in front of you,” Nellums said. “He’s worked tremendously on being able to use his hands to get guys off of him and knowing where to put his hands so he can stop the run. It’s all built itself up to the complete package that you guys see now.”
Having a top-notch offensive lineman to practice against has also aided Davillier’s development, as he’s squared up with fellow 2022 prospect and Arkansas commit Andrew Chamblee numerous times during their time together at Maumelle.
Rated a four-star prospect by some services, Chamblee had a slew of Power Five offers before committing to the Razorbacks in March.
“They embraced going against each other in one-on-one and we embraced it, as well,” Nellums said. “We always believed that iron sharpens iron, so there was always a heavy competition between them, especially knowing that Chamblee was going to go DI, as well.”
Although he started out as a nose guard, Davillier has slimmed down over the last few years - shedding some “baby weight,” as Nellums said - and evolved into more of a defensive end. It also helped that he plays basketball, averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds on the Hornets’ Class 5A state runner-up team this past season.
That has led to speculation about whether he’ll play inside or outside on the defensive line at Arkansas - something that may not be resolved until he steps foot on campus.
“He’s 100 percent versatile,” Nellums said. “He has the ability to go anywhere on the line, from nose to defensive end to a 3-tech, 2-tech. He can play literally anywhere.”
Davillier ended his recruitment, which had been a hot topic this summer, on Sunday by announcing his commitment to the Razorbacks. He is the eighth in-state recruit and the 12th player overall in Arkansas’ 2022 class.
With a 5.8 rating from Rivals, Davillier is also one of five four-star prospects in the class and Nellums is confident he’ll live up to the hype when he finally suits up for the Razorbacks.
“As a player and just as a kid in general, he’s a leader in everything he does and he wants to be the best,” Nellums said. “When it comes down to learning new moves, learning how he fits in a scheme and what he needs to do, he’s passionate about learning it because he wants to be able to help in any way he can so the team can win.”
