Yesterday, we took a look at Anthony Davis and our confidence regarding him. With his questionable draft position and his performance in 2010 up against his perceived ceiling, I'm really not surprised by any of the votes. I could see somebody being totally confident in him, and I can see people just not being so hot on him and his future. That's just how it goes, and personally, I was right around seven in the poll, though I have yet to vote. As it stands, eight is the leading result, which I think is great. I expected more people on here to be adverse to giving such a high ranking, but I like it.
We've now covered all of the starters, except for Mike Iupati, the 49ers second first round selection in 2010. I remember being at the draft party, and being pretty stoked that everybody there cheered for Iupati. I know that two offensive linemen isn't the "sexy route" in the draft, but knowing that everybody was down for that pick made me smile. Iupati came into the draft as one of the best guard prospects in years.
Did he show that play in 2010? I think he did. Iupati was very good, so good that teams knew that the 49ers were just going to run the ball into him on every single play, so teams keyed in on him and challenged him even more. He mauled guys left and right in the running game, and I know our running backs were more than happy to go to the left side.
One thing I really liked about Iupati's game was the fact that he actually excelled in pass protection. He wasn't the best in that regard, of course, but he was dependable more often than he wasn't. There's really not a whole lot to say about him, though ... Iupati is Iupati, he has all the talent and potential in the world, it's just whether or not he'll reach it, and if s, how soon?
So we get to confidence levels. I think a ten for Iupati implies a Pro Bowl caliber season in 2011. Something like a '7' would be above-average, very good guard. A '5' would show that he's a good starter, the best option, but that's it. I think you guys can figure out the rest.