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Mike Iupati:Almost John Hannah.By TOM
March 5th, 2010 |
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Okay, so I went a little crazy. He has a long way to go before he is John Hannah. However, he is the best blend of size, athleticism, and power I have seen at OG. His ability to pull is the best I have seen in College Football, and can only be compared to Hannah.
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My favorite memory of John Hannah was way back in the early 80s. I was watching a game on TV, and the Commentators were comparing Hannah to the great OC for the Miami Dolphins, Dwight Stephenson. The commentator kept going on and on about how great Stephenson was, "Blah-blah-blah-one of the best. Blah-blah-blah, dominates interior Linemen. Blah-blah-blah, maybe the best in the NFL..." It was positively a Dolphin love fest. They started this new feature where they would show replay, and break down the play. They said they were going to compare the two, but they showed Stephenson 3or 4 times before they compared Hannah. Stephenson was a good player, who would dominate the man in front of him, but it was all one-on-one blocking. He would naturalize, much to the over-hyped glee of the commentator. Then it was Hannah's turn;-)
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It was a sweep to the left, with Hannah pulling to the outside. Now the commentator would go through this with their new fangled technology of slow-motion replay;-) Hannah hopped around OLT Brian Holloway, who was blocking Miami's Right-DE, Hannah chipped. For those of you who never saw Hannah play live, when he was on the move he would come in low and hard, drive into a defender with both arms on the shoulder pads, and bam, shoot his neck out like a turtle and drive his head right into the defenders chest. The Right-DE dropped like a drunken stone. Hannah kept going, and after knocking the DE down, the FB got past him. The FB grabbed the OLB, and Hannah hit the OLB in typical Hannah fashion, clubbing him with his hands, and bam shooting his head out of his shoulder pads right into the poor guys chest, and boom he was on the ground like Hannah just threw out a rioting sack of hog parts. Hannah kept going over the broken remains of his second victim, but that didn't seems to bother him as he dived head popping out first in the DB, and smacked him about ten yards back. Unfortunately, he didn't get the third TKO. Then it was time for the blah-blah-blahing commentator to blah-blah-blah about how much better Stephenson was than Hannah.... The guy who couldn't shut up about about Stephenson was suddenly silenced.... I think he was an ex-Miami Dolphin, at least he sounded that way when he talked about the Dolphins.... And nothing.... Then a hoarse, weak, and stunned moan escaped, "Wow." was all he said.
Every time he focused in on Stephenson, Dwight did a nice efficient job of naturalizing whomever his assignment was, I'm not knocking Stephenson at all. He focused on Hannah three times. All three times, were sweeps to the left. All three times he dominated three defenders. TKOing two twice, and one once. He was never able to get the third TKO. After the commentator starting out as saying Stephenson was the best O-Lineman in the NFL, he finished by saying John Hannah was the best Offensive Lineman to ever play the game. I couldn't agree with him any more.
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I tell this tale because I call Hannah the Best Offensive Linemen to ever play the game. I have never seen anybody else come close to blocking three players on one play to this day. Until now. Iupati never got the third guy, but I saw him come close twice. I like to judge O-Linemen by who has the ability, quickness, power, hustle, and smarts to block two defenders on one play. The last guy I saw do that consistently was Jake Long when he was at Michigan. I said two years ago he was best run blocker in the Draft because of his ability to block two defenders on one play, and he has developed into one of the best run blockers in the NFL. Iupati actually blocked multiple defenders with greater consistency than Long. Of course, Iupati played at a lower level of competition, which was my main concern with him.
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Iupati is the best run blocker in this Draft, and will develop into one of the best run blockers in the NFL. However, like Hannah I see him mainly as a OLG. He struggled on the right side at the Senior Bowl, giving up a Sack to Dan Williams, and generally looking slightly off every. He give up a Hold (0:58) and a another Sack (2:17) to Geno Atkins. Although he played better at Right Guard than I remember, looking at the highlights. Still, he had all three of his mistakes at ORG. He has the athletic ability to step out to OLT, but I don't see him as a great OLT prospect.
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Where Iupati really excels is when he is pulling to the Right. In one play, I watched him pull to the Right, and chip on the Left D-End, effectively take him out of the play with his heavy hands. His punch allowed the Right Tackle to swing around and seal the LDE to the inside. He then popped out to the Corner, and even though he paused to punch the D-End he still beat the FB to the Corner. He bounced out and crushed the OLB, and I really thought the OLB was going down, and Iupati was already glancing at the DB coming up, in Hannah like anticipation. However, the OLB held his ground, and so Iupati had to drive him all the way out to he sideline. That was a truly dominate double block on one running play, and I become a fan;-)
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Iupati plays with terrific power. He has hands as heavy as a sledgehammer. He has great quickness inside. He bursts off the line on run plays, and gets into position quicker than any O-Linemen I've seen this year. His quickness is really on display when he is pulling outside on sweeps to the right. Sometimes it looks like he gets outside too quickly and overruns the play, something that is usually exclusively a defensive problem;-) He pulls and gets down the line quicker than O-Linemen I've seen since John Hannah. He beats the FB to the Point of Attack, and he hits his target every time. He not only knocks them backwards, he keeps attacking. He keeps pushing, shoving, and sustaining the block until the whistle blows. He will hit multiple targets on the way outside as well. His speed, quickness, and athleticism is astonishing for a 331 pound man.
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He uses his long arms, hands, and feet in great combination in pass protection. I love how how chips in pass protection. He was so dominate against Bowling Green that the Right DT started to run away from him, and refused to rush the passer. I have only seen D-Linemen refuse to rush against an O-Linemen twice before, once against Ryan Clady thee years ago, and Mark Tennant this season against USC (Tennant thoroughly dominated number 44 on USC). He has amazing feet and quickness in pass protection. When I first saw him pull to the Right, on a passing down, I thought I was hallucinating. However, three times I saw him pull to the right in pass protection, all three times he reached outside the ORT, who chipped in on the Left DT, and Iupati crushed the Left D-End like he was a rotting tomato. Let me say that again, he pulled from the Left Guard position, and ran down the line with the suddenness and quickness of the Roadrunner;-) Now, pulling on pass play is different from pulling on a running play because the OC, ORG, and ORT are all retreating into your path like they just saw a crazy ex-girlfriend, so he had to dodge them as well. He met the Left D-End outside the ORT's shoulders and hit him with all the weight of a sledgehammer thrown by a God of Thunder. He is the ORG here, but there appear to be Seven O-Linemen on the field, FIRST PLAY he pulls in PP. I have never seen anything like that before, and he did it successfully three times in the Second Half.
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I love the way he pulls forward on running downs. He fires off the line and gets to the second level like a rhino charging a camera man, and just runs over the ILB. He does an amazing job chipping/punching the DT and allowing his OLT to seal the DT, and still reaching the second level almost too quickly. He is the best O-Lineman I've seen impacting LB and DBs on the second level since Jake Long. He just keeps driving his leg mercilessly and punching, shoving and driving Linebackers backwards. He has as heavy a right hand as I have seen (check out at about the 1:31). Technically marvelous feet. His feet always get him in perfect position. I love how he chips on the DT on his way out to annihilate the Linebacker (check out at 1:26). Damn, after watch the highlight reel of the Senior Bowl, I think he can play on the right side.
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On one run up the middle, he punched his right hand right into the LDT's left shoulder (to Iupati's right). He sustained his block with his left hand on LDT's chest, and with his amazingly strong legs, and left arm, drove him back and turned him. He pushed the LDT with just his left hand, and drove him into the MLB. Then he punched the MLB with his right hand into the MLB's left shoulder (to Iupati's right), and with his left hand in the chest of the DT, and his right hand in the chest of the MLB, and his powerful legs moving like a a rhino on steroids, he turn both men, and sealed them to his left. It was one of the most impressive things I have seen on a football field. (Check out 1:36 Amazing! Slow-Mo at 1:43 and 1:48) -
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Okay, his negatives. He played at lower level of competition, and I don't think he will be able to drive a DT backwards with one hand as he is turning the MLB with the other in the NFL (Although 0:05, he shoves off two DBs, one with each hand;-) He will sometime lunges in pass protection, and that is usually a disaster in the NFL. He has to show better patience in pass protection. Of course, when I saw him lunge, it was because the DT looked like he was afraid to rush, and instead of exploding off the line he was meekly hanging around the LOS. My oddest criticism of him is that I never saw him pull to the Left? He is so dominate pulling to the right in both pass protection and run blocking that I can't see it as a problem, but I am telling you he just doesn't pull to the left? I saw him pull to the left once in the Senior Bowl on a pass play (sort of 1:27), and once on a Screen against Utah (I think it was Utah), but he missed that block and fell down. He had shoulder surgery two years ago, and as we have seen with Stephen Neal, and John Hannah for that matter, shoulder problems are the worst injuries for O-Linemen. They are taught to impact defenders with their arms extended, so their shoulders take the brunt of the impact all game, every game. Now he had a single shoulder surgery in 2008, and has had no reported problems since than, and that does not make shoulder problems a guarantee, but the potential problems usually begins with a single shoulder surgery. I think his best position in the NFL will Offensive Left Guard. He struggled at the Senior Bowl out at Left Tackle, but it was his first attempt at OLT. Also, it you put him out at Left Tackle, you take away what he does best, which is pull to his right. However, after watching his highlight reel from the Senior Bowl Game, I no longer question if he can play Right Guard.
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Iupati is a big, amazingly powerful, O-Linemen, with amazingly quick feet. He was voted Team Captain. He played 807 snaps without letting up a Sack. He garnered: 49 knockdowns, 21 pancakes, gave up only five pressures, and graded at 90% or better every game. - Idaho football. He gave up his three worst plays in the Senior Bowl at Right Guard, and didn't seem to be as naturally explosive, but he did show he can make the conversion with more experience, which is good news for Pats fans. I seriously doubt we will take an O-Linemen in this years Draft, after taking three last year. Two of whom are OG prospects Ohrnberger and Bussey, and are all still on the Roster. However, if the Pats do take an O-Lineman it will be an Offensive Right Guard prospect.
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If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me:
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