Cardinals Player Spotlight: G Mike Iupati
The Cardinals picked up Mike Iupati from an NFC West rival but can he duplicate what he was in years past?
Iupati was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the NFL Draft out of Idaho with the 17th overall pick. The Niners were looking to become more physical up front and got exactly what they wanted with Iupati. Iupati was given the opportunity to start during his rookie year due to an injury to, then starting guard, David Baas.
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Iupati shined. In his rookie year he didn’t give up a sack or commit a penalty until week five. That is unheard of from a rookie. He was selected to the to the 2010 All-NFC West Team.
Iupati was a Pro Bowl Guard for the 49ers in 2012 and was named to All-Pro First Team after his outstanding season. He has made the Pro Bowl three times overall. He started and played all 48 regular season games from his rookie year to 2012.
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In 2013 he had a bit of a rough patch. He missed 4 games due to different injuries, including a broken ankle early in the NFC championship game. Iupati dealt with numerous injuries and showed his toughness throughout.
He missed part of the offseason before the 2014 season recovering from ankle surgery. He had shoulder injuries and knee problems that he missed a few plays from but did his best to stay on the field.
Iupati has been known for his run blocking. Whether it is pulling around the line and getting downfield, or just blocking on the line his physicality is something that is his specialty. He was graded, in 2014, second out of all guards in run blocking by Pro Football Focus.
Pass protection can be a bit of a different story. Last year he was ranked 55th in pass protection due to the fact that he gave up 7 sacks and 22 quarterback hurries. Some would argue that it’s a bit easier to protect a Qb when you know that they will be staying in the pocket.
Those people would be bringing up a great point. Having a mobile quarterback like Kaepernick in San Francisco can be difficult because scrambling can often be unpredictable. On the other hand, he wasn’t very good at protecting with Alex Smith under center as well.
As 49er fans could most likely attest to, he would be good for a holding penalty at some pretty inopportune times during the game.
Now for my personal opinion on what he could bring to Arizona. The Cardinals NEED help in the run game and Iupati will bring just that. Arizona’s downfield pass game is predicated off of play action so that will go a long way towards taking pressure off of the line.
It helps that Iupati knows the players within the division from playing each one twice a year. That added insight can only help with an offensive line a little bit in flux at the moment.
I think that there is a possibility that Iupati can return to his 2012 form and continue being a dominant force and veteran presence in a physical NFC West.