Lawrence Okoye Thread of Epic Awesomeness

Originally posted by spizzy:

Originally posted by kush:
By mid-season he'll make us all forget about Justin Smith. Hopefully it's before the trade deadline so we can get something back for Cowboy when we don't need him anymore.

I mean, heck, if he could make us forget about Justin Smith then

Originally posted by WINiner:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by Disp:

Originally posted by 5280High:
At first I also thought there was no chance of him making the roster or any team being interested in him. But the more the media covers this guy the less chance of sneaking him on the practice squad.

I doubt any coaching staff relies on the media to get player information. If a team wants a guy that's available to them, they're gonna get him whether Sportscenter's been talking yapping about him or not. Hoping he progresses enough this offseason to make the 53 though.

Generally I'd agree with you, but there may be one exception: The Jaguars. It seems like they are the frontrunners to be the London expansion team. And they happen to play in London this year (against us ). I can see that signing be a publicity stunt for them, as they have no shot to make the playoffs anyway.

Okyoe chose the Niners. He believes his best opportunity to make in this league is as a Niner, he has been advised the same by both folks in the UK and in the states involved with NFL Europe. He will be on our practice squad and he is going to be happy to be there and the Niners are going to develop this guy into an absolute monster.

I absolutely believe he would decline a claim by another team.

He cannot deny a waiver claim. When a player is cut, they go through waivers, and any team may claim the player. If multiple teams claim the player, the team that was highest in the draft order wins. The player has no right of refusal to a waiver claim. If the player passes through waivers, then he can be placed on the PS. Practice squad players can receive invitations to join the active roster of any team at anytime, but they may choose to stay with their current team. So, if he makes it to the PS in the first place, the choice is his, but the choice would belong to 31 teams before he could be placed on the PS.

Incidentally, I think the Jags would pass on a gratuitous appeal to the masses (no interest in Tebow in his home town).

Originally posted by spizzy:

Originally posted by kush:
By mid-season he'll make us all forget about Justin Smith. Hopefully it's before the trade deadline so we can get something back for Cowboy when we don't need him anymore.

Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

Originally posted by WildBill:

Originally posted by WINiner:
Okyoe chose the Niners. He believes his best opportunity to make in this league is as a Niner, he has been advised the same by both folks in the UK and in the states involved with NFL Europe. He will be on our practice squad and he is going to be happy to be there and the Niners are going to develop this guy into an absolute monster.

I absolutely believe he would decline a claim by another team.

See my answer above unless they changed the rules.

In other words chances are slim to none someone else claims him.

Originally posted by Kronos2560:

Originally posted by WildBill:
Before you can place a person on the practice squad, he must first clear waivers, if a team picks you up from waivers, you can't refuse if I am not mistaken and assumes the contract, I think you are talking about if another team wants to sign him off the niner's practice squad after he clears waivers and is placed there. However, if you sign a player from another team's practice squad, you can only do so to put him on your 53 man roster. Also, when you waive a person, the team with the worst record has first dibs then the next etc. and they must pick up the contract he signed. Unless I missed a rule change this was the rule last I heard.

This is correct, and in my opinion Law will not make it through waivers.

There is not a team in the NFL that would stash this guy on their 53 over the next few years, and that's what it would take.

Originally posted by 9erred:
I think he will absolutely make the roster just off of his high ceiling. He might not be active game day, but he will make the final roster.

I do not have the link, but apparently their is some explosion drill that the DL coach does, they wear them out to a point of exhaustion and then have them do broad jumps, where you stay stationary and jump forward. Okoye jumped 7 feet or it could be 6 feet, one of the two. Either way he matched or did better than the workout warrior Justin Smith.

If the best DL coach in the NFL, and the best player coach in Justin Smith can mold anyone it will be OKOYE. I am predicting that Okoye will be the next Antonio Gates, whereas college teams will start looking at discus and shot putter (margus hunt) trying to find a diamond in the rough.

I don't see any way our, or any other team, would keep him on their 53. He just has too much to learn and those roster spots too valuable to waste on a for sure non player for the season. Next season I could see the discussion having merit, this year he will be on our PS and that's where he will sit for the season.

Originally posted by WINiner:
I don't see any way our, or any other team, would keep him on their 53. He just has too much to learn and those roster spots too valuable to waste on a for sure non player for the season. Next season I could see the discussion having merit, this year he will be on our PS and that's where he will sit for the season.

I'm not willing to say one way or the other. Obviously, he's behind the 8-ball, but saying there's no chance seems premature. I mean, if he really dedicated himself, it wouldn't surprise me, especially if he makes the ST squad.

Plus, with only 46 (i think) active roster spots, the last 7 roster spots are designed for developmental players.

Originally posted by WINiner:
I don't see any way our, or any other team, would keep him on their 53. He just has too much to learn and those roster spots too valuable to waste on a for sure non player for the season. Next season I could see the discussion having merit, this year he will be on our PS and that's where he will sit for the season.

JAX is a threat due to the London tie in. If their owner really wants to move to London a story like Okoye will sell and help with the fan interest needed

Does anyone know who the players were that didn't dress last year but were still on the 53 man roster. I kind of think we should keep him on the 53 man roster just to see how he looks next year. There's no guarantee that you keep him on the practice squad. Someone else can snag him after we put a bunch of work into him during this offseason.

It's not the same thing but I do this all the time in fantasy football. If a player goes down for multiple weeks he gets dropped by another team. I grab him 3/4 of the way after his injury and sit him on my bench to hopefully help me come playoff time. If he doesn't pan out then I'm not out anything. He was only taking the spot of some 3rd string wr or second defense that I would have never have put on my starting team anyways.

If Okoye makes the 53, I don't think anyone is going to be jumping on one of the guys that didn't dress last year for game day. I say Keep him on the roster, He will learn faster by seeing how gameday goes, we will bolster are fan base in England/overseas if he's on the team next year and with a year under his belt we can see how fast he is actually learning the game.

Originally posted by kush:
Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

Im not saying it will or will not happen, but if he was playing at Justin's level by mid-season A) it would send a shock wave throughout the whole NFL and especially the 49ers fan base, B) our fan base would be split down the middle of welcoming him, and hating him. But at least we would have a replacement for when Justin wants to retire and C) Justin still wouldn't be traded lack of DE's last season is what killed us.

Originally posted by LoneWolf:

Originally posted by kush:
Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

Im not saying it will or will not happen, but if he was playing at Justin's level by mid-season A) it would send a shock wave throughout the whole NFL and especially the 49ers fan base, B) our fan base would be split down the middle of welcoming him, and hating him. But at least we would have a replacement for when Justin wants to retire and C) Justin still wouldn't be traded lack of DE's last season is what killed us.

Why would the fanbase be divided in him playing at J. Smith's level?

Originally posted by kush:

Originally posted by spizzy:

Originally posted by kush:

By mid-season he'll make us all forget about Justin Smith. Hopefully it's before the trade deadline so we can get something back for Cowboy when we don't need him anymore.

Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

If you think a kid with no NFL experience, no college football experience, and hasn't been hit since he played rugby; is going to replace Justin Smith by mid-season I have some swamp land in Florida I can sell you.

Originally posted by TheRatMan13:

Originally posted by kush:

Originally posted by spizzy:

Originally posted by kush:

By mid-season he'll make us all forget about Justin Smith. Hopefully it's before the trade deadline so we can get something back for Cowboy when we don't need him anymore.

Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

If you think a kid with no NFL experience, no college football experience, and hasn't been hit since he played rugby; is going to replace Justin Smith by mid-season I have some swamp land in Florida I can sell you.

No kidding??

I was just telling my fiancé I am interested in purchasing land and now this.

Originally posted by kush:

Originally posted by TheRatMan13:

Originally posted by kush:

Originally posted by spizzy:

Originally posted by kush:

By mid-season he'll make us all forget about Justin Smith. Hopefully it's before the trade deadline so we can get something back for Cowboy when we don't need him anymore.

Justin Smith came to us at 6'4" and ~280lbs. Now he is 300 lbs.!

Lawrence came to us at 6'6" and 300 lbs. meaning he will be 315-320 before long and still an athletic freak

I understand ppl have a soft spot in their heart for Cowboy but come on, lets not be unrealistic. He's getting way up there in age and he wasn't as talented a piece of clay as Okoye to begin with

If you think a kid with no NFL experience, no college football experience, and hasn't been hit since he played rugby; is going to replace Justin Smith by mid-season I have some swamp land in Florida I can sell you.

No kidding??

I was just telling my fiancé I am interested in purchasing land and now this.

Lol just sayin. I hope he can turn to something special for us but I don't think he'll see the field on anything more than special teams. Tank is the guy we should be watching for flashes

Tank and Dial are obviously better bets to make the D-line rotation, but if Okoye were somehow able to pull it together, that would be a windfall for the team.