Davis could be a bust but I’d say it’s a little early to label him as one. Davis’ lack of production can probably be attributed to three main factors; his injuries, poor QB play, and his apparent inability to learn the play book (I’ve read somewhere that an anonymous teammate said that he’s never seen any starter in the NFL make as many mistakes as Vernon).

Davis stayed relatively healthy last year so that’s probably the least concerning factor. Some people reserve more hope for Smith than I do, we’ll know for a fact if Smith is indeed a bust or not after this year, so maybe Davis will get some help in that area. But if Davis is really as big a bonehead as his anonymous teammate eluded too he could very well be a bust, especially under Martz.

he actually had a fairly productive season last year, with over 500 yards receiving (well above the league average for a TE), and 4 TD (also above the league average). He has not yet met the expectations that we all had, that he would be one of the BEST TEs in the league, someone like Antonio Gates (984 rec yds, 9 TD). But being so productive on such a terrible offensive team with such inconsistent QB play means he did a really good job.

Whoever called him a bust clearly has no clue what they’re talking about.

Check back with me in a year or two.

It’s easy to see the talent that this guy has. There are questions though about his durability and his ability to focus on the task at hand. He must have been penalized at least 5 times last year and that’s not including holding calls. False starts and illegal shifts drove me ape last year.

As far as living up to the hype that came with this guy, he is a bust. I think if he had come in as a guy that kept his head down and stayed away from the limelight, we wouldn’t be discussing this. We would probably just say okay he is…2 years into this gig…the victim of some unfortunate injuries, being asked to block a bunch, playing TE, a hard position to learn, etc..

He obviously didn’t go that route. And really I’d like to know. What came first with Vernon the commercials or gametime? Seriously.

I’m pretty much in agreement with everybody here. I think an important thing to consider for this is that he actually hasn’t been on the field as much as we thought he would have been. Injuries have retarded his development as much as anything else to this point, from poor team play to a personal inability to learn quickly. Just last night I had a dream that Vernon Davis got hurt and would be out for 2008. In that dream I thought to myself, gee, this guys never going to work out, is he? I don’t consider Vernon Davis a bust yet. I can see where he might become one, but I don’t consider him one yet.

But then, I don’t like to consider most third year players busts. Except for a few stellar players and a few positions that have smaller learning curves (RB, for instance), very few players – even first round picks – have developed adequately after two years. Sometimes it’s obvious that you’re dealing with a bust that early (Mike Williams), but most of the time it’s not.

I also would speak up for Alex Smith. I liked the pick at the time, and still think that he was the better pick than Rogers (better than a player like Braylon Edwards… probably not, but the better of the two QB picks). I won’t give the schpiel because we’ve been hearing it nonstop since Dilfer took the helm last year, but I will say that Smith is dangerously close to being a bust. For all the hope I see good reason to hold out for, it as to e clear that we’re getting pretty close to the end of that rope.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head by saying that VD can’t be called a bust because of the struggles that the rest of the passing game have had. It was sickeningly obvious last year how non-threatening our WRs were, so teams were free to bump, double and shift towards Davis on just about every passing down. Add to that the fact that we haven’t had a healthy Vernon and a competent Quarterback on the field at the same time in…ever…and you get a very poor basis from which to judge the guy.

Additionally, we had an offensive coordinator who, for some ungodly reason, seemingly spent 16 games trying to design gameplans that would keep VD as ineffective as possible.

I would, however, like to see a poll from NN to see just how many of us would label Alex Smith as a bust.
For my own entertainment purposes. =)

I want to see better game calling before I’m willing to call anyone on this team a bust, be it Smith, Davis, or Howtheyscored (probably a bust, but he’ll get a pass for now).

By the by, I was formerly Drunken Miller.

when we release him and he signs with the Raiders.