Lamin Barrow-ILB/OLB-LSU

After that horrible injury to Bowman, now ILB potentially becomes a need. I'd be interested in seeing Skuta move inside, from what I've seen from Wilhoite, not too sure I'm sold on his ability to hold up long term and right now I'm expecting Bowman to be out for most of next season. The preliminary is an ACL but I'm afraid that the damage could be a lot worse than that. He was the 49ers best defensive player this season, hell, the best defensive player in the NFL and should get the DPOTY, no questions asked. You can't replace a guy like that, you just try and get by.


One guy that I think could come in and contribute right away, either in a platoon or as a backup, is Lamin Barrow from LSU. He's got a lot of great traits, a very smart, instinctual player on the field, he's always moving towards the ball, he has great instincts as a linebacker. He has some good speed, can play in coverage, very experienced and versatile guy who has played OLB and ILB at LSU. If nothing else, he could provide good depth and a possible stopgap until Bowman returns to reclaim his spot. His range right now is roughly 3rd-4th round.












*Yes, this is my way of coping somewhat, disappointing loss, felt like the 49ers had it, the injuries made the game seem almost secondary though. Sucks for both Bowman and Iupati.

I think you are spot on, and my mock will feature an ILB in the mid-rounds. Wilhoite is a good backup/ST player, but we a guy that has starting potential. Willis was banged up this year, and Bowman has a long road for recovery.

We have 12 picks in this draft. We can address these needs.

Originally posted by GEEK:
I think you are spot on, and my mock will feature an ILB in the mid-rounds. Wilhoite is a good backup/ST player, but we a guy that has starting potential. Willis was banged up this year, and Bowman has a long road for recovery.

We have 12 picks in this draft. We can address these needs.

I agree. I have little faith in Wilhoite long term. I like Barrow in the draft because while he doesn't have the greatest upside, he's one of the most game ready guys, very instinctual, reacts, learns quickly, has the speed to go sideline to sideline, a natural leader, I could see him stepping in, starting as a rookie and holding that spot down until Bowman returns. He's a little undersized although by the time the Combine rolls around I expect him to be anywhere between 235 and 240 pounds, so not too bad.

Larry Grant Played in 2 games for Chicago this yr. Just a thought.

Originally posted by FastEddyD:
Larry Grant Played in 2 games for Chicago this yr. Just a thought.

Pass. If they were going to go that route, then Skuta is just as good and possibly a better option. I'd like to see someone with some better speed and lateral movement to play in coverage.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by FastEddyD:
Larry Grant Played in 2 games for Chicago this yr. Just a thought.

Pass. If they were going to go that route, then Skuta is just as good and possibly a better option. I'd like to see someone with some better speed and lateral movement to play in coverage.

Skuta isn't on the same level athletically as Grant. In 2011 Grant was money in all phases in the 4 games he played in. 2011 was a long time ago and that ship might have sailed already.

Originally posted by FastEddyD:
Skuta isn't on the same level athletically as Grant. In 2011 Grant was money in all phases in the 4 games he played in. 2011 was a long time ago and that ship might have sailed already.

Meh, he was never very good in coverage. It was masked by him replacing Willis, not Bowman. He played solidly, but you're trying to overhype his performance. Skuta can do all the same things, I would just like to see someone with better speed and coverage skills out there, maybe Moody although he still seems to be very raw.

shayne skov--not a great athlete but has fine instincts

Originally posted by hofer36:
shayne skov--not a great athlete but has fine instincts

Barrow, very good athlete and has fine instincts.




Seriously I like Skov, maybe as a special teams guy or as depth, but not as a potential starter. Good player but this system depends on both ILB's being able to move pretty quickly and be able to drop back into coverage, particularly Bowman.

As for Bowman, his recovery will depend on his precise diagnosis. Two 49ers suffered ACL tears late last season, receiver Kyle Williams on Nov. 25 and receiver Mario Manningham on Dec. 23. Williams suffered an ACL tear only, was running around without limitations in May and was cleared for training camp in July eight months after the injury. Manningham also had a PCL tear and had to wait for that to heal before having surgery on his ACL. Manningham didn't come back until November, and even then it was clear he hadn't made a full recovery. The 49ers put him on injured reserve last month, ending his season.

The regular season begins in seven and a half months. The bottom line is that there's a strong likelihood Bowman will begin the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, just like Michael Crabtree did this year. That opens the door for backups like Michael Wilhoite or Nick Moody or someone who is not on the team right now to make an impact.

- Matt Barrows

Link

Originally posted by GEEK:

As for Bowman, his recovery will depend on his precise diagnosis. Two 49ers suffered ACL tears late last season, receiver Kyle Williams on Nov. 25 and receiver Mario Manningham on Dec. 23. Williams suffered an ACL tear only, was running around without limitations in May and was cleared for training camp in July eight months after the injury. Manningham also had a PCL tear and had to wait for that to heal before having surgery on his ACL. Manningham didn't come back until November, and even then it was clear he hadn't made a full recovery. The 49ers put him on injured reserve last month, ending his season.

The regular season begins in seven and a half months. The bottom line is that there's a strong likelihood Bowman will begin the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, just like Michael Crabtree did this year. That opens the door for backups like Michael Wilhoite or Nick Moody or someone who is not on the team right now to make an impact.

- Matt Barrows

Link

Barrows goofed on this article, since voting for DPOY does not extend to postseason play. The voting will end up: Quinn, Watt, Kuechly

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

Originally posted by GEEK:

As for Bowman, his recovery will depend on his precise diagnosis. Two 49ers suffered ACL tears late last season, receiver Kyle Williams on Nov. 25 and receiver Mario Manningham on Dec. 23. Williams suffered an ACL tear only, was running around without limitations in May and was cleared for training camp in July eight months after the injury. Manningham also had a PCL tear and had to wait for that to heal before having surgery on his ACL. Manningham didn't come back until November, and even then it was clear he hadn't made a full recovery. The 49ers put him on injured reserve last month, ending his season.

The regular season begins in seven and a half months. The bottom line is that there's a strong likelihood Bowman will begin the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, just like Michael Crabtree did this year. That opens the door for backups like Michael Wilhoite or Nick Moody or someone who is not on the team right now to make an impact.

- Matt Barrows

Link

Barrows goofed on this article, since voting for DPOY does not extend to postseason play. The voting will end up: Quinn, Watt, Kuechly

Sure - but the point is that Bowman's injury will likely impact the start of the 2014-2015 season.

Has looked great at the Senior Bowl practices thus far. He's a bit on the lightside but is being looked at as an inside or middle linebacker. I like that he's very polished, game ready, looking like a 3rd round to 4th round pick at this point.





http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000315815/article/lsu-lb-lamin-barrow-stands-out-to-jaguars-coach-gus-bradley

I don't think we need another ILB, Bowman will be back in the early part of the season if not by week 1. IMO we should play our best backup LB in Bowmans spot if we need to and that's Skuta. DS played ILB his entire career b4 we moved him outside, have him play inside until Bow comes back.

Originally posted by matt49er:
I don't think we need another ILB, Bowman will be back in the early part of the season if not by week 1. IMO we should play our best backup LB in Bowmans spot if we need to and that's Skuta. DS played ILB his entire career b4 we moved him outside, have him play inside until Bow comes back.

Not with a torn ACL+MCL. Count on him returning around the same time as Manningham. They don't even know if they need to do surgery on the MCL, they're going to wait a few weeks, which pushes the whole thing back entirely. With all the extra picks the 49ers have, I don't think a quality ILB is a bad investment at all.