What was Nappa's power level, and why?

[kriss-]

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/v-jump-may-2013-akira-toriyama-special-interview/

In my works, “guys who seem like they ought to be strong are actually weak”
He has a very strange air of divinity, or rather… he’s quite the individual. He’s both cute and scary.
He’s a bit eerie, and at first glance, he doesn’t seem strong at all, so I like him quite a bit. He even makes cute cat-like gestures. In my works, “guys who seem like they ought to be strong are actually weak.” ……Like Nappa. (laughs)
No, no! Nappa was plenty strong. (laughs) Although Beerus is in a class of his own. Now then, speaking of Beerus, there’s his attendant, the mysterious man Whis. How did the birth of this character come about?

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/battle-gods-animanga-akira-toriyama/

Compared to Beerus, God of Destruction, how strong is [Super Saiyan] God?
I suppose if Beerus’ strength is a 10, [Super Saiyan] God would be right about 6. Only, Saiyans rapidly increase in strength as they fight against strong opponents, so the longer they fought, the more that gap would shrink, and it might even be possible for them to eventually turn the tables. Incidentally, I guess Whis would be about a 15.

These are two interviews that are all I need to prove that Nappa was really nothing during his short fight with Goku. a) He couldn't be considered weak if he was actually on par with Goku and b) Goku's statement about the fight taking all day is a reference towards his durability and can

Even if you argue and say that Recoome is big and burly, I'll counter you with the fact that Recoome is not a Saiyan.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

If you read the Saiyan saga, you'll see that this message is conveyed through everyone's perception of Vegeta in comparison to Nappa. Piccolo assumed that Nappa was the most powerful of the two because of his size, but eventually realized that wasn't the case. That in itself is not saying Nappa isn't strong--just not as strong as he appears to be. Also, your latter quote does a good job in showing that Nappa's power gradually improved enough to make him a tougher opponent for Goku.

 

[kriss-]

Akira Toriyama has told us twice that Nappa was actually weak. Therefore he's not as powerful as everybody is trying to make him appear to be. His secondary statement tells us that Saiyans rapidly increase in strength, but this doesn't mean that Nappa was as powerful as Goku when he had a clam mind, because that would be contradictory to the statement above.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

It was a general comment. There was no comparison to Goku.

 

[kriss-]

He was regarded as weak. Him being anything but is conjecture.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Not by Goku, so it isn't.

 

[kriss-]

If Nappa was strong, Akira Toriyama would not of stated that. Being comparable to Goku would make him strong, so it's conjecture.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

His statement has absolutely nothing to do with how he compares to Goku. That's totally missing the point of the statement. He's saying guys that look strong aren't usually that strong compared to the guys who look weak. This is actually displayed when Piccolo assumed Nappa was stronger than Vegeta based on how they looked. It was obviously a tongue in cheek comment.

 

[Tapion]

A.T was talking about how weak Nappa was compared to Vegeta. Nappa was the big guy, while Vegeta was the tiny guy. And it turned out that Vegeta was the boss while Nappa was weak compared to him.

 

[kriss-]

Akira Toriyama's statement would not make sense if he intended to portray Nappa was strong, his entire purpose of introducing him was to make him appear weak. But in comparison to who? Goku and/or Vegeta? Most likely both, since both of them are smaller but are implied to be much more powerful.

His secondary interview is clearly regarding all Saiyan fighters, and not just Goku or some other unspecified Saiyan. Simultaneously, this means that based on Nappa's durability, the fight can take longer than intended, which could ultimately mean that Nappa would eventually catch up to Goku. But this is not to be confused with Nappa already being close to Goku. Through Vegeta's narrative statement, this is not what we're told. Goku on the other-hand, believed that he may have a prolonged battle with Nappa based on what he JUST seen, which was Nappa surviving the Kamehameha; albeit, it wasn't a very powerful one. Even this statement from Goku does not suggest how far Nappa had come, but how far he may continue to go.

But Vegeta stopped the fight, so obviously he wasn't intended to be powerful.

 

[Tapion]

He was talking about how Nappa was compared to Vegeta. The context screams that.

Your second point doesn't prove that Nappa wasn't already close to Goku.