Scouting Report-There are Big Conference scouting gurus everywhere kicking themselves for letting Iupati end up at Idaho. You look up road grader in the dictionary and here's who you see. He's got a massive frame with long arms and huge hands. He's not your typical fat boy and carries his 330lbs really well. Going along with that, he's about as athletic a guy for his height and weight in the draft. You love a nasty attitude and Iupati has it in spades. He throws a big punch and never takes a play off. Loves to finish strong and that usually means dropping the yokozuna on a defensive player. Now he's not too good to be true but he does have some shortcomings. He's not real quick, and doesn't work well against the edge, having to drop out and picking players up on the outside. This goes along with blitz pickup. He makes excellent reads and knows what to do on every play but there are times when his body just won't let him get there. Some of this is footwork. You have to admit when you've been able to physically dominate like he has, your footwork and techique is going to take a backseat.
Draft Status-It seems every year a guy like Iupati sneaks into the first round. I'd have no problem with my team were picking in the bottom of the first and needed a guard drafted him. One thing that could effect his status is if a team thinks they can move him to tackle. If they do, they will rate him higher. I'm not ridin' that train. I suspect somewhere between pick 20-40 Iupati comes off the board.
Final Analysis-Love Iupati's game. I don't think he can move to tackle and as a guard he's much better in small spaces then pulling or at the second level. But for a team that plays a lot of 4-3 defenses where he's going to have one on one's against another wide body, point of attack, he's going to win those. As I said, his pass pro is going to have to improve, but that's pretty minimal. Give him a run heavy team and he'll dominate. Some are concerned he hasn't played dominate defenses but that doesn't bug me. He can maul people and works hard. That can't be underestimated. Conditioning and effort won't be an issue and teams have to appreciate that.
Reminds me of: Aaron Sears, OG Tampa Bay-Both are big physical guys who are stronger as run blocker than pass protectors.
