I finished watching the St. Petersburg Bowl between Rutgers and the University of Central Florida. My main reason for watching was to get a good long look at Rutgers tackle Anthony Davis, and I was very impressed.
UCF redshirt junior defensive end Bruce Miller was the All-Conference USA defensive player of the year. He had 12 sacks (10 solo and 4 half-sacks) this year and 7 last year. For most of three quarters, he lined up against Davis, and Davis completely shut him down. Toward the end of the third quarter, they took Miller off Davis, and Miller got a sack after lining up at a linebacker position on the opposite side and coming in unblocked.
Davis dominated everyone they put in front of him. He bulldozed them out of the way on running downs and stopped them in their tracks on passing downs. No one that he was blocking got anywhere near the quarterback. He stunned defenders with his punches, stepped back, and rode them past the quarterback when they tried to get around him to the outside. He snapped his man's head back with the impact of some of his blocks. Several times during the later stages of the game, UCF stunted their pass rushers away from Davis, leaving him with no one to block. Basically, they gave up trying to get anyone past him.
I was very impressed by three phases of Davis's game. First, he was consistently the first lineman on either side of the ball to move off the snap of the ball. Second, he has mastered the art of passing his man to an interior lineman, and then sliding out and eliminating a blitzer coming from the outside. Third, and this is what he does best, he pulls to his right on running plays and leads his running back through the guard/tackle hole on the right side of the line by destroying anyone in his way. Some of those collisions were highlight-reel stuff.
Davis is still a bit raw with his technique. He occasionally drifts too far back before taking on the pass rusher, and on a couple of running plays he left his man a little soon. But this is minor stuff. No one that he was blocking made a play all night long. He's got the size, strength, and quickness to be star in the NFL. I would definitely consider taking him with a mid first-round pick, and I would give him every opportunity to start at right tackle in his rookie season.
A note on alleged character concerns that have been brought up in relation to Davis. From what I've read, Davis is arrogant. He's been a star everywhere he's been, and he is cocky and apparently mouthy, but he has also backed it up with hard work and solid play. He originally came to Rutgers heavy (370 pounds), and his coaches gave him a weight that he had to make. The coaches never gave any details or said whether or not he made it, but after the big weigh-in they put him in the starting lineup. Davis says that he was told to drop his weight to 325, and he weighed in at 317. That was two years ago, and he's passed the eyeball test ever since. I'm not worried about either his cockiness or his weight. An NFL camp will take care of both.