Mike Davis Declares for the NFL Draft???

Mike Davis: "This is about my family and finances. It’s a good time to take it to the next level. I enjoyed my time playing for Texas."— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 10, 2013

This is a head-scratcher for me. I was tremendously proud of how Mike seemingly got his head right with ball this past offseason and made tremendous strides in functional strength, route-running, concentration and blocking. With that said, he has a significant way to go in every one of those areas, and I'm pretty baffled that he's electing to make the jump at this stage of his career. It's very tough for me to imagine him going prior to the fourth round in the 2013 draft, and somewhere in Rounds 5-7 is probably more likely. There are just a lot more guys with better measurables, better production and fewer question marks to be had this year.

With another year of S&C development, another year of work on his overall craft as a receiver, another year of improved production with a junior QB in a (likely) more wide-open offense and another year to forget a pouty and pitiful sophomore campaign, Davis likely raises his draft stock by a couple of rounds. Not only would that be to his near-term financial benefit through his first contract, but it would greatly improve his chances of seeing all four years of that contract by A) coming into the League with a better skill set and B) having a team that's more invested in him by virtue of having spent a higher draft choice.

For the 2013 Longhorns, it's a bite - while a guy like Cayleb Jones might have a higher overall ceiling, it's tough to imagine him or any other receiver on the Longhorn roster matching the production that Davis could have provided next season. It also takes away a potential upper-classman leader from next year's squad - while I don't know that Davis was the vocal type, if he continued on the path he set this past season he'd at least be a strong lead-by-example guy for an offense that needs some guys to rally behind.

I'm hesitant to use one guy's decisions as a barometer for the team's overall thoughts on Mack, Major and the program as a whole, but it's not the kind of thing you want to see from a bunch that's supposedly gung-ho for our new offensive impresario.

Thoughts?