Big Whiffah!!!!

Ok, so a prophet I am not. I figured there would be some trading going on in this draft, but I wasn't expecting that someone would move into the 11 spot for an offensive lineman. But, the 49ers did just that in order to take Anthony Davis out of Rutgers University.

It would seem as though Davis is set to be the left tackle of the future for the 49ers. At 6'5 and 323lbs, Davis certainly has the size to hold his own at the position, and by all accounts and what little film I've seen on Davis (honestly about 3 minutes) and some of his combind stats (33 inch verticle), he appears to be athletic enough, also.

NFL.com's analysis of him goes as follows;

Strengths:

"Davis has the outstanding combination of size and athleticism necessary to play left tackle at the next level. Displays impressive strength eating up opponents off the ball. Excels in pass protection utilizing his long arms to effectively react and adjust while protecting the blindside. Displays really nice hand use."

Weaknesses:

"Lacks great initial quickness when exploding out of his stance in the running game. Davis is not a natural knee bender. Would like to see him finish strong on a more consistent basis. His self discipline is questionable after he struggled with weight issues in college."

While the pick itself is solid, it does beg the question; why move up for a tackle when Clausen, whom the 49ers seemed to be rather interested in, is still on the board? When the trade came up on the screen, that seemed to make the most sense. Instead, they gave up a pick to get a position they have a large need at, and they filled it with a rather large man, but were the 49ers really concerned that Davis may not be there 2 picks later? The 49ers do pick at 17, so that could have figured in San Francisco's thinking, but that allows a lot of wiggle room for another team to move up to take the Notre Dame quarterback, but giving up a draft pick usually requires more than an offensive lineman.

Again, there is nothing wrong with the pick, since Davis projects to be a great player and on many boards was the top offensive lineman in the draft, but there is some surprise this move wasn't made to bring in a franchise quarterback. If Clausen's leadership skills and the questions about his ability to handle being an NFL quarterback scared San Francisco away, Alex Smith and Shaun Hill should have had them running right back to Clausenville.

But, in the end, this is why I am not an NFL general manager, and by all accounts, Davis will be a strong pick. He will be a prominent force for the San Francisco running game that has been very solid over the last few years, and he will help solidify the protection on the left side for whomever it may be at quarterback for the 49ers. All in all, on a scale from 1-10, I'd rate this pick a B+.

-Ben Wills