Lawrence Okoye Thread of Epic Awesomeness

Originally posted by AmpLee:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by AmpLee:
Your behavior is dramatic and misrepresenting of other peoples' arguments. Almost trollish.

Excuse me, but I am the one who's behavior has been called unfriendly, obnoxious, duplicitous, melodramatic, and a troll.

Don't sugar coat it guys, give it to me straight.

Fixed.

Actually fixed.

Originally posted by buck:
Thanks that helps.

One more step to go. Do the English consider themselves European or are the English considered European by others?

They consider themselves Europeans but with slightly better breeding. They joined the EU but did not accept the Euro as their currency...still use the pound. I lived in Europe for a few years and being "European" is not a big deal. I suppose it might be for Europeans living abroad?! Dunno...

Originally posted by AmpLee:
Yes, but only if they promote him to the active 53 man roster. If he shows anything this preseason, that could happen. If we see and hear very little of him and they put him on the practice squad, then we know they really like him. If they can't hide how well he is doing, they are going to have to find a spot for him on the roster.

He'd also have to accept the other team's offer. Teams put in claims for Lockette last year and he turned them down. I don't think its a coincidence that Okoye signed with the 49ers considering how popular they are in the UK overall and that they would be playing there this season. If the team devotes a ton of attention to him and has a plan for him to eventually join the roster, he may tell other teams to basically buzz off.

Hopefully he makes the roster and gets to play at least 1 snap in the London game so that way we can have many more games over their in the future. Yeah, I'm being sarcastic. I think we might have accepted the London game to help our chances with getting Super Bowl 50. Also, wouldn't be surprised if Jed wanted to broaden our fan base. I wouldn't mind it if we weren't on the West Coast but I guess we usually fly out from the East Coast anyways. Still ends up being a two week away trip with like 12,000 miles logged which is more than most teams have all season. I think it should rotate and every teams should have to play a game before someone plays one twice. Instead Jags 4 of them as home games, we are on our 2nd, Pats 2, Bucs 2 yet a lot of teams haven't been over there.

Here is all of them if you guys want to see. Scroll down 3/4 way to see all the results
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_International_Series

I don't think anyone thinks Okoye (including Okoye himself) thinks he will crack the 53 man this year. He has said that he wants a team that will work with him and he can learn. I think the optimistic people are loving his attitude as much as his athleticism. Also, he is a project for our coaches that was picked up as an UDFA. This is a no lose situation for the Niners. And possibly one that has a huge upside. If he was coming to this country to go to college, most college coaches would drool at the size, speed, work ethic and attitude. Our coaches seem to be the perfect fit for him to sit on the PS and learn.

OK the coach loves a good running game. lawerence is/was a rugby player who is fast and huge tackle this guy at goal line.

On the explosive power index Okoye rating is 1.13 which is the highest of any defensive linemen in the draft.

Any value over 1.05 is considered elite. Sheldon Richardson had a 1.04; Nick Williams- 1.05, Brandon Williams-1.09

On the speed score metric, which adjusts the 40 time using weight and height, Okoye gets a 117.01. Wide receiver Patterson had a 113.7.

The true freak of nature is Lane Johnson. Johnson had a 1.221.

Okoye clearly has the physical capability required. His athletic background suggests he has the required drive and determination.

The rise of Ziggy Ansah and Menelik Watson suggest that Okoye could be a serviceable player relatively quickly.

Being trained by Jim Tomsula, working alongside of Justin Smith, and under the oversight of Vic Fangio, it is not unreasonable to think that this young man could become a good player in around two years.

There are no guarantees, and much is going to depend on if he has a mean streak, and how deep that streak runs.

The only real downside I see with this guy is that he's got a real short attention span. He dedicated himself to rugby, got into, did well for a few years....decided he wanted to do discus....dedicated himself to it for a few years..did really well, went to the Olympics and then..........moved on to football.....meanwhile he's given interviews in the UK stating that he'll get back to discus again at some point in the future.

Originally posted by buck:
On the explosive power index Okoye rating is 1.13 which is the highest of any defensive linemen in the draft.

Any value over 1.05 is considered elite. Sheldon Richardson had a 1.04; Nick Williams- 1.05, Brandon Williams-1.09

On the speed score metric, which adjusts the 40 time using weight and height, Okoye gets a 117.01. Wide receiver Patterson had a 113.7.

The true freak of nature is Lane Johnson. Johnson had a 1.221.

Okoye clearly has the physical capability required. His athletic background suggests he has the required drive and determination.

The rise of Ziggy Ansah and Menelik Watson suggest that Okoye could be a serviceable player relatively quickly.

Being trained by Jim Tomsula, working alongside of Justin Smith, and under the oversight of Vic Fangio, it is not unreasonable to think that this young man could become a good player in around two years.

There are no guarantees, and much is going to depend on if he has a mean streak, and how deep that streak runs.

Interesting post. I have no idea what those numbers mean but it sounds pretty good!

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
The only real downside I see with this guy is that he's got a real short attention span. He dedicated himself to rugby, got into, did well for a few years....decided he wanted to do discus....dedicated himself to it for a few years..did really well, went to the Olympics and then..........moved on to football.....meanwhile he's given interviews in the UK stating that he'll get back to discus again at some point in the future.

I agree motivation may appear to be an issue but he wanted to compete at a home olympics and so took up discus, I doubt football was really on his mind until the try outs as the pathway into the NFL from the UK is virtually non-existent, the opportunity has presented itself so he's gone all in. I worry that being on the practice squad and out of the picture a bit may dull his enthusiasm but we'll have to wait and see.

DL is a good fit for him, obviously it's still very technical but he can pin his ears back a bit and try and utilise his natural athleticism.

Kentwan Balmer 2.0

Originally posted by LieutKaffee:
Interesting post. I have no idea what those numbers mean but it sounds pretty good!

This should help

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2013/2/26/4031054/nfl-combine-2013-tale-of-the-tape-making-sense-of-the-defensive-end

Originally posted by wireman:
OK the coach loves a good running game. lawerence is/was a rugby player who is fast and huge tackle this guy at goal line.

Is he playing rugby with children? Is this the so called "rugby" experience this man possesses?
And some say he wasn't even that GOOD at beating up on children?! (read the comments section)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2188572/Lawrence-Okoye-considers-rugby-return.html
"Had a friend who played against him and said he was nothing special at all, no footwork and surprisingly not as strong as you'd expect. Maybe he should go and take the place at Oxford he had, because I know plenty of people that would turn down a place at one of the world's best universities in return for the money and glory of being a discuss thrower... or not."

When I played high school football, there was a monstrous man-child on the team, little body fat, big muscles; but he didn't start, and he wasn't that good. A bunch of big muscles means very little if that is all you got. I bet he doesn't even make it to training camp.
I want him to be a Hall-of-Fame player of course, but please.

he played rugby at Under 20 level.

It's not just muscles though, he can move quick.

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by wireman:
OK the coach loves a good running game. lawerence is/was a rugby player who is fast and huge tackle this guy at goal line.

Is he playing rugby with children? Is this the so called "rugby" experience this man possesses?
And some say he wasn't even that GOOD at beating up on children?! (read the comments section)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2188572/Lawrence-Okoye-considers-rugby-return.html
"Had a friend who played against him and said he was nothing special at all, no footwork and surprisingly not as strong as you'd expect. Maybe he should go and take the place at Oxford he had, because I know plenty of people that would turn down a place at one of the world's best universities in return for the money and glory of being a discuss thrower... or not."

When I played high school football, there was a monstrous man-child on the team, little body fat, big muscles; but he didn't start, and he wasn't that good. A bunch of big muscles means very little if that is all you got. I bet he doesn't even make it to training camp.
I want him to be a Hall-of-Fame player of course, but please.

If they're children then he's a child. Look what he looked like as a child. He was 17 or 18 in that pic, same as the others.

He's physically freakish and worth spending nothing more than some time and effort on.