By Rob Calonge
Rulon Davis is an imposing presence. With his 6'5" frame filled with 280 pounds of muscle, deep baritone voice, spine tingling stare, and a strict military bearing he perfected in the Marines, he can easily make the bravest man shrink a little. On the football field, his play does the same to offensive linemen. Davis has been described as a 'high motor' player, a description reserved for players that not only give 100%, but are doing it 100% of the time. His look and his play may be the reason that his nickname is 'The Beast'.
"I think Rulon plays with a high motor," says Cal defensive line coach and former Cal defensive lineman, Tosh Lupoi. "He plays with aggression and violence." Aggression and violence are good terms to describe a defensive player. NFL teams often look for defenders that best exhibit that on the field of play, but they don't always do a good job of identifying those players during the draft. The NFL is littered with great defensive ends that weren't highly scouted coming into the league. As with anything, it doesn't matter where you start, but where you finish, and Davis intends to finish at the top.
Right now, his biggest hurdle seems to be getting acknowledged for what he can do as a player. Yesterday, by phone, he admitted that much and more. While he doesn't take it personally, he does have a message to all the mock drafters and to teams that end up passing on him next weekend:
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