Mike Iupati

[PackersRS]

Mike Iupati - LG - Idaho

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhFMZROcNZ8]YouTube - Mike Iupati: The Samoan Juggernaut (Idaho) Highlights[/ame]

Mike Iupati Scouting Report
By Matt McGuire

Strengths: Massive frame
Excellent strength and bulk; carries weight well
Good speed and athleticism for size
Nasty, blue-collar demeanor
Great hand punch
Finishes blocks
Anchors against bull rush
Tough
Wins 1v1 battles in phone booth
Fluid when asked to pull/trap
Good but not great agility
Focused; doesn't take many plays off
At times will flash dominance
Good upside


Weaknesses: Somewhat raw prospect
Inconsistent when sealing off angles
Needs to play with wider base
Sometimes late to react on stunt/blitz pickups
Will be exposed against quicker DTs
Needs more coaching up with hand use
Footwork tends to get sloppy
Plays against poor competition

Summary: Iupati has some clear upside, but there is no doubt he might not be ready to start from Day One and might not find his way into a starting lineup until the midpoint of his rookie season. A lot of Iupati's mistakes are correctable, but do you really want to spend a second-round pick on an unpolished guard? Teams such as Minnesota, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Miami and Cincinnati will likely have him rated highly on their board. I am not sold that Iupati can play left or right tackle in the pros, and I need a closer look at him (Senior Bowl). Iupati is a projected second-round pick.

Player Comparison: Davin Joseph. Joseph is a mauling guard with inconsistent pass protection.

CBSSports.com scouting:
Pass blocking: Good initial quickness off the snap. Provides a significant jolt to the defender with his punch. Too high in his pass protection but has the strong hands to latch on to the defender and ride him throughout the play. Good balance and lateral agility to slide with the defender and remain square. Can get himself in trouble with leverage by playing too high. Long arms and great lower strength to lock out. Rarely takes a step back even against a powerful bull rush, but this could be an area of concern against NFL defensive linemen, especially when Iupati fails to move his feet. Has developed into a savvy blocker. Looks to help out his teammates when not covered. Wants to hit someone.


Run Blocking: Can dominate as a run blocker due to his mass and rare upper-body strength. Provides an explosive initial pop that often knocks the defender back. Has to do a better job of latching on, as he'll knock his opponent back only to see him regroup and get back into the play. Very good drive blocker when he plays with leverage and keeps his hands inside. Can physically remove the defender from the hole. Looks to eliminate more than one defender on the play and will release to the second level. Good effort downfield.


Pulling/trapping: Surprisingly agile in getting out and blocking at the second level. Good body control and straight-line speed for a player of his size. Can re-adjust in space to hit the linebacker. Fails to lock onto the defender, at times, preferring to violently shove his target to the ground and look for others.


Initial Quickness: Good initial quickness off the snap in pass protection. Even on the rare occasions when beaten off the snap, his long arms and wide-body make it difficult for defenders (including blitzing linebackers) to sneak through his gap. When beaten by quicker defensive tackles in the running game, has the agility and long arms to catch them as they slide by, typically knocking them down and pancaking them.


Downfield: Intimidating presence on the move. Good athleticism and balance for a man his size and can redirect to make the effective block when he gets close. Will misjudge angles at times, and miss his intended target. When he does so, rather than turn to stand helplessly around the pile, he moves on to the next target. Good effort to block downfield.


Intangibles: Made significant progress over the past two seasons and appears to be just scratching the surface of his potential. Size and athleticism combination enough that some will view him as a better offensive tackle or even defensive tackle prospect. Born in American Samoa and moved to the United States at 14. Began learning English (and football) at that time. Has only played football since high school. Signed with Idaho after bigger programs had concerns about his ability to qualify academically. Voted team captain by his peers for 2009.

 

[PackersRS]

Sorry the vid is not good... Couldn't find a better one. If anyone does, please post...

 

[AlDay31]

Even if Iupati is still available at 23, which I am not too sure about, I hope, we pass on him. Firstly our interior line is accept for LG quite good, and LG is not at all a glaring need. Let alone Iupatis Performance at the actual Senior Bowl game, which at least feel a bit worried, about him being a high caliber interior lineman, especially because of the holding thing.
Talkin' about glaring needs, you, if you wanna go Offense in the first, have to consider an OT(or C.J. Spiller) and Iupati sucks there.

 

[PackersRS]

I disagree. Between Colledge and Spitz, the LG is the weakest positions.

Both can be quality G backups, but none have proved they can start in the NFL.

Tauscher was the best OL last year, and Lang showed he can be the future RT, and can be a good (but not great) LT.

I think we're not in a position to pass on a dominant OLineman, which is what's lacking in this team. But IMHO the most pressing need is exactly at LG...

 

[NYPacker]

Even if Iupati is still available at 23, which I am not too sure about, I hope, we pass on him. Firstly our interior line is accept for LG quite good, and LG is not at all a glaring need. Let alone Iupatis Performance at the actual Senior Bowl game, which at least feel a bit worried, about him being a high caliber interior lineman, especially because of the holding thing.
Talkin' about glaring needs, you, if you wanna go Offense in the first, have to consider an OT(or C.J. Spiller) and Iupati sucks there.

I completely agree. Even if Colledge is not resigned I think we are set at LG with either Lang or Spitz. Sitton will anchor the RG position for years to come and finding his backup won't be hard in the later rounds of the draft.

 

[DILLIGAFF]

Even if Iupati is still available at 23, which I am not too sure about, I hope, we pass on him. Firstly our interior line is accept for LG quite good, and LG is not at all a glaring need. Let alone Iupatis Performance at the actual Senior Bowl game, which at least feel a bit worried, about him being a high caliber interior lineman, especially because of the holding thing.
Talkin' about glaring needs, you, if you wanna go Offense in the first, have to consider an OT(or C.J. Spiller) and Iupati sucks there.

I agree if a left tackle that can play at the same level as Iupati is available we get him, but by the 23rd pick I think 4 or 5 OT will already be taken.

I disagree that our interior line is ok, Colledge was night and day on the left side and the addition of a solid left guard would be a tremendous improvement.

I think Iupati coming from Idaho (they don't play the elite talent in the country) will have transition pains going to the speed of the NFL, something we saw at the Senior Bowl. As long as he has a good combine I think he will adjust quickly once in camp and worthy of our 23 pick.

IMO TT will trade down this year, there seems to be good and deep talent in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. To have another 2nd and 3rd pick would go along ways to addressing needs.

 

[turbo69]

Mike Iupati OG

The Packers don't have a problem with one guy on the offensive line..its more than one guy. The gaurds are nothing special. So here is what I suggest. I am pretty sure all the top Left Tackle prospects will be gone when we pick in the 1st round. If Mike Iupati is there at 23 the Packers better pick him. He is the best gaurd in the draft and some say he can play offensive tackle, but I say if we draft him......keep him at gaurd.
1st round Mike Iupati Gaurd
2nd round Ciron Black OT
Third round pick the best OLB, Saftey or corner available

The Packers Could then start TJ Lang at Right tackle, Chad Clifton at left with Ciron Black backing him up/working him in here and there getting him ready to take over full time next year. Whoever is the weakest/worst gaurd.....gets replaced by Iupati, the other gaurd could be College, Spitz or Barber. Scott Wells at center. We would go from having a very questionable line, to one of the best lines in the NFL.
Add the best OLB available in the 3rd round and pick up a corner to replace Bell and Bush in the 4th and 5th round...........walla......problems fixed. Ooops.......pick up a punter in the sixth like Mesko or the Ray Guy award winner from Georgia.

Let me know what you guys think

 

[PackersRS]

Had already done a thread about him.

I was high on him when the draft talk began, before the Senior Bowl. Was one of the only that thought of him as a 1st rounder. Then Mike Mayock also fell in love.

But I have deep problems with him holding, and playing in poor competition.

The ability is there, but the technique is severely lacking. I once thought him as an immedate fix for our OL, considering how poor Colledge performed.

But he's nowhere near ready to face NFL competition.

I see Faneca, Hutchinson in him. But he's raw.

 

[PackersRS]

But as I said before, I think we MUST take an OL in the 1st round, but NONE after that, till the 5th round at least.

We also NEED to adress secondary and pass rush, be it as S, CB, ILB, OLB or DE. Preferably all of them.

My take is to trade down, get an extra 3rd, go 1OL, 2OLB, 3CB, 3S, 4ILB, 5DE and then I have no idea.

Chances are we won't fix every position through the draft alone...

 

[turbo69]

Iupati

Even if Iupati is still available at 23, which I am not too sure about, I hope, we pass on him. Firstly our interior line is accept for LG quite good, and LG is not at all a glaring need. Let alone Iupatis Performance at the actual Senior Bowl game, which at least feel a bit worried, about him being a high caliber interior lineman, especially because of the holding thing.
Talkin' about glaring needs, you, if you wanna go Offense in the first, have to consider an OT(or C.J. Spiller) and Iupati sucks there.

___________________________________________________________-
Yeah.........I saw him holding too! Ummmm.....looks like he would fit right in with the rest of the Packers....LOL. But if you are telling me that our present starting OG's are any thing better than average...........well....you got to be kidding me.......

 

[NYPacker]

___________________________________________________________-
Yeah.........I saw him holding too! Ummmm.....looks like he would fit right in with the rest of the Packers....LOL. But if you are telling me that our present starting OG's are any thing better than average...........well....you got to be kidding me.......

In terms of guards it doesn't look too bad. You have Lang who was a stud at tackle so moving him to guard is no issue, along with the return of Spitz that just leaves the tackle position in deep jeaopardy.

 

[turbo69]

In terms of guards it doesn't look too bad. You have Lang who was a stud at tackle so moving him to guard is no issue, along with the return of Spitz that just leaves the tackle position in deep jeaopardy.

________________________________

If a guy is a Stud at OT..........you keep him there........in my opinion

 

[PackersRS]

________________________________

If a guy is a Stud at OT..........you keep him there........in my opinion

I've had that discussion also.

Lang seems to be the future RT, and a good one.

Moving him to guard would hurt his progress.

What, IMHO, wouldn't hurt him, would actually benefit him, given the dificulty of the position, is moving him to LT, as Clifton is done, and Tauscher appears to be as solid as ever at RT.

So, IMHO, for this year we're set at tackles.

Wells is a very good center. When he entered last year, we improved a lot. He's not strong, but he did great against the Williams wall and Casey Hampton.

Sitton was the best OL last year. We're set at RG.

The position of need is LG. Colledge and Spitz haven't prove they can start. They're solid backups, though.

But I don't see Iupati ready.

So, any lineman we get in the draft, will have one year to develop.

That means we can take either Iupati, Brown or Campbell. I think Brown is the better of them, though not as strong as the others, his athletic ability, hands and technique are far better, specially in the passing game, which is our greatest strenght.

It also helps he played his entire college career in the ZBS...

 

[turbo69]

I also just read that english is his second language. Doesnt mean he can't speak english.........but communication could be an issue. Just a thought.

 

[PackersRS]

I also just read that english is his second language. Doesnt mean he can't speak english.........but communication could be an issue. Just a thought.

English is my second language... But you probably can tell by the countless gramatical errors...

 

[turbo69]

Julius Peppers is, apparently, about to become a Chicago Bear.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Peppers' signing in the Windy City is "imminent" while former Vikings RB Chester Taylor is already in the fold at the cost of four years and $12.5 million ($7 million guaranteed).
Peppers is the the crown jewel of this year's unrestricted free agent crop and should give the Bears a much more formidable pass rush while playing alongside DT Tommie Harris, who should now face fewer double teams.
Taylor, a third-down complement to Adrian Peterson the past three years in Minnesota, joins the Vikings' NFC North rival and should push third-year RB Matt Forte.
Blocking tight end Brandon Manumaleuna struck a deal with the Bears earlier Friday. -- Nate Davis
More reasons we need to draft Iupati..........not to mention the Lions will probably get Suh in the draft.........plus just signed Vanden Bosch......oh........and seeing Jarrett Allen a couple times a year. Anyone going to tell me our O-line is better than average? If Clifton jumps off the bus......we are screwed. We going to put Barber in there? He was basically no more than putting a under sized running back on the line. Not that he is small or weak. It was the thing on top of his neck not working properly!!!!! We don't get that line fixed between now and in the draft......We better draft 5 or 6 QB's......cause we are going to need them.