At this point in Nate Davis' young career, there seem to be three basic camps (with some folks crossing here and there). The first camp loves Nate Davis and thinks he should be a starter at this point, or should be a lot closer to being a starter. They see what he's done in the preseason, and then also what he did in his time at Ball State, and they see a guy who is further along than folks think.
The second camp is the opposite end of the spectrum. They figure that while he's put up solid numbers in college and in the preseason, it's always been against lesser competition. At Ball State it was the MAC, and in the preseason it's against 3rd and 4th string players. The third camp is somewhere in the middle and seems more inclined to just want the best players out there and don't swing heavily one way or the other on the Nate Davis question.
Yesterday against the Colts, Nate Davis was 5 of 6 for 84 yards. One of those completions was really incomplete, but Davis was able to hurry up the offense to prevent any challenge of the play. A smart play in a generally solid performance by Davis.
Even if you're part of the crowd that doesn't think Davis will ever amount to anything significant, isn't it time to use the preseason to potentially get a better idea? I don't mean he should be playing with the first stringers, but for evaluation purposes, should he maybe start getting a bit more of that second quarter time? The team has to figure out David Carr as well, but if you're thinking long-term, wouldn't Nate Davis have more upside than Carr? I'm not saying Davis should be the backup in 2010, but rather, why not use the preseason a bit more efficiently in that respect?
At this point Davis has shown some talent and has made some pretty solid throws in his brief time with the 49ers. It hasn't been against the highest level of competition and I won't challenge anybody on that. However, he's had some very impressive moments in 5 preseason games. Even if you don't think he's a long term answer and you don't think he's doing it against crap competition, I just don't think you can tell me with a straight face that he hasn't looked pretty decent in the preseason.
Given that, shouldn't the 49ers see what else he can do in expanded preseason situations? I don't know if I'm wording my thoughts all that well, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say. Nate Davis may not be "Our Future," but the 49ers owe it to themselves to get a better idea of this idea while the games still don't count.