How Patriots CB Carlton Davis III Trains

First, we want to give our guy Carlton Davis III a big congratulations on reaching his second Super Bowl!

That milestone doesn’t happen by accident, and it definitely doesn’t happen without years of intentional, high-level offseason training.

We first began working with Carlton Davis when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he won his first Super Bowl and became a champion. Since then, our mission has stayed the same: help Carlton stay fast, explosive, durable, and game-ready year after year, even as the NFL season grind and career mileage pile up. Even as he changed teams, his consistency each offseason stays the same.

Now, as a key part of the New England Patriots defense, Davis continues to perform at a high level, playing every game this season and helping his team push toward another Super Bowl run. His longevity, consistency, and ability to impact games don’t show up by chance. They’re built through the way he trains.

Make sure to go see our previous article on the best single leg plyometrics for football!

Carlton Davis III Impacts Games Without Chasing Stats

When people evaluate cornerbacks, interceptions often dominate the conversation. But Carlton Davis III has never been a “stat-chasing” corner, and that’s exactly what makes him so valuable.

His impact comes from:

• Elite technique
• Physical coverage
• Route disruption
• Pass breakups and forced incompletions

He uses his length, timing, and physicality to stay in-phase, challenge the routes, and is a physical tackler.

One of the reasons Carlton Davis III has remained a reliable, high-level starter throughout his career is his length, technique, and maintaining his overall athleticism. Training is the foundation that allows that style of play to hold up year after year.

Why Training Matters More the Longer You Play

Cornerback is one of the most physically demanding positions in football. You’re sprinting, stopping, flipping hips, reacting, decelerating, and reaccelerating on every snap, often against elite athletes in space.

As careers extend, training must evolve.

For CDIII, the offseason isn’t about doing random drills or just “staying in shape.” It’s about maintaining elite NFL speed and explosiveness while protecting the body from breakdown. That’s how you keep playing fast deep into your career and how you stay available when it matters most.

The 3 Keys of Carlton Davis III’s Offseason Training

1. Maintaining Joint Integrity and Long-Term Health

Speed doesn’t matter if your body can’t tolerate it.

One of the biggest priorities in Davis’s training is protecting the joints that take the most stress at the cornerback position:

• Hips
• Knees
• Ankles
• Spine

We focus heavily on:

• Controlled strength through full ranges of motion
• Isometric and eccentric work to reinforce connective tissue
• Mobility and stability that actually transfers to sprinting and coverage

This approach allows Carlton to move freely, stay explosive, and handle high-speed change-of-direction demands without accumulating unnecessary wear and tear.

Durability is a skill that’s trained.

2. Improving Power and Rate of Force Development Every Offseason

You don’t keep elite NFL speed by maintaining strength alone. You keep it by improving how fast you produce force.

Every offseason, Carlton Davis III trains to:

• Rebuild explosive power
• Improve first-step acceleration
• Maintain vertical and horizontal force output

That includes:

• Plyometric progressions
• Sprint mechanics and resisted acceleration
• Explosive lifts focused on intent and speed

Even as the years add up, the goal is simple: stay fast, stay powerful, and stay reactive. That’s what allows Carlton to mirror receivers, close space quickly, and still finish plays at full speed.

3. Mastering Deceleration and Change of Direction

Great corners aren’t just fast. They have to be elite at stopping and changing directions rapidly.

Carlton Davis III’s ability to decelerate, sink his hips, and redirect efficiently is a huge reason he stays technically sound in coverage. Poor deceleration and COD leads to:

• Late reactions
• Slipping at the top of routes
• Soft coverage windows

His training emphasizes:

• Braking mechanics
• Multi-directional deceleration
• Game-speed change-of-direction under fatigue

This is where pass breakups are created. This is where incompletions happen. And this is where elite corners separate themselves and maintain their impact and longevity in the league.

Consistency Is the Real Superpower

Carlton Davis’s career has been defined by consistency, not flashy trends or short peaks. His ability to stay reliable, physical, and technically sharp year after year is directly tied to how he trains in the offseason.

You don’t play cornerback this long in the NFL, stay healthy through multiple playoff runs, and reach a second Super Bowl without training the right way year after year.

Carlton’s offseason work isn’t about hype. It’s about precision, progression, and preparation, which are the same principles we apply to every athlete we train.

At Overtime Athletes, we don’t guess. We build programs and systems based on what actually works at the highest level of football. The same systems used to help CDIII maintain high level NFL speed, explosiveness, and durability.

If you’re serious about becoming faster, more explosive, and more resilient on the field, our Football Performance System is built to do exactly that. Start training like pros do.