Originally posted by Thizz415:
Finley looks great and like someone said he is a better version of Walker. I do agree that he is a better route runner and has better hands but he gets put in better situations than Davis and they go to him. We learned this year how to use davis more but he haven't taken advantage of the mismatches at times. If Vernon can learn how to not drop the ball that much and stop getting false starts then he would be the best TE but until that he is will not be a top 3 TE. Top 5 yes but not the best unless he fixes those problems.
To my eye, Finley is just a much more agile, graceful athlete. He makes the difficult look easy. Davis is more mechanical.
Frankly, the 49ers don't need Davis to be the best. Just cut the drops in half and no more false starts and the team will improve the 3rd down conversions by 20%.
One of the local writers, I can't recall which one, wrote after the Philly game, IIRC, that on possessions in which Davis false started or dropped a pass, the 49ers did not convert any 3rd downs. For an offense that clearly struggled, to have a player in a position, TE, that is, by definition supposed to be that go to guy for possession, to be the opposite, certainly indicates an area that needs improvement, as you noted. Now add in the well-chronicled inability to run clean, predictable routes, and there is MUCH room to improve.