Opinion on Manny Lawson

Originally posted by Apples:
Jesus, he's not a bust, he's one of our best defensive players! He's not a great pass rusher, but he's damn good in coverage!

GAH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!

A whole lot closer to a bust than a great player. He was only taken to help get pressure on the QB, and at that he is a bust. Still a very good player, but has to get much better to have a longterm future on this team. Hopefully when his knee is completely healed they can find a way to use his great athletic ability. Special team plays are great, but a first round pass rushers gotta make defensive plays. All around, not just cover someone occasionally.

He really came on later in the season. Hopefully his knee will be 100%. He had 3 sacks. I remember a few big hits late in the season. He was picked at #22 so it is not like we are talking about a sure fire pick. I can't wait to see him healthy next year. Super Bowl hero Santonio Holmes was picked 3 spots after.

2008 San Francisco 49ers 14 45 33 12 3.0 -- 3 -- -- -- 0.0 --
2007 San Francisco 49ers 2 11 8 3 0.0 -- 1 -- -- -- 0.0 --
2006 San Francisco 49ers 16 57 47 10 2.5 -- 1 1 0 0 0.0 0
TOTAL 32 113 88 25 5.5 0 5 1 0 0 -- 0

Here's who went after him

23 Tampa Bay Davin Joseph - OG
24 Cincinnati Johnathan Joseph
25 Pittsburgh Santonio Holmes - WR
26 Buffalo John McCargo - DT
27 Carolina DeAngelo Williams - RB
28 Jacksonville Marcedes Lewis - TE
29 New York Nick Mangold - C
30 Indianapolis Joseph Addai - RB
31 Seattle Kelly Jennings
32 New York Mathias Kiwanuka - DE

I don't think a new Lb would replace Manny per se, but rather... supplement him.

I think Manny just needs more playing time. The guy has a lot of abilities that really haven't been utilized to its fullest extent.

I think for him to fit the 3/4 he needs to put on 15 pounds. With his frame the extra weight would'nt slow him much. I've seen him blow by the line and get stood up by rbs. If he was 260, he could run through them. Even so, I think he will trust his knee more and have a good season.

If I remember correctly, Manny was getting in the backfield in those two games in '07, especially St. Louis. I personally think he can rush pretty good from the very limited chances hes been given.

His downside is he plays too light on his feet. But I've seen him improve on shaking off the blocks which will help his passrush even more.

I hate to break it to you, but If the Niners sign or draft a stud pass rusher, its Parys Haralson he'll replace, not Manny Lawson.

Lawson is now a COVERAGE LB. His role is NOT to rush the passer. He is the Keena Turner OLB with alot more responsibility than the dedicated pass rusher, not the Charles Haley elephant OLB. Think of Lawson like a Keena Turner-Lee Woodall (tho Woodall played in a 4-3 scheme...he was a coverage OLB) type, and not Fred Dean-Charles Haley.

...and another thing, why has everyone all of the sudden fallen in love with Parys Haralson? I mean, I think hes a decent player, but he's not a great player by any stretch so far. He had three sacks early on and then 5 THE REST OF THE SEASON. Why is everyone so excited about him?

Lawson on the other hand was UNDERUTILIZED and found himself on the bench or on special teams for big portions of the season. When Singletary took over, he began to employ more of a classic 3-4 D and Lawson played alot more often...and surprise, surprise, the D began playing better.

Lawson isn't the problem here. Haralson isn't a bad player either, but he isn't the super-stud OLB pass-rusher this team needs to take the next step (along with a Free Safety with some range).

As far as I'm concerned, I'd pull the Brinks truck up to Julius Peppers or Terrell Suggs lawn and just start dropping off money NOW. Its not often that pass rushers of that calibre become available. You can waist 10 first round picks before you find ONE guy with that kind of ability.

Originally posted by WestCoast:
I love Manny Lawson, he is a baller. He is gonna be a niner for many years

Originally posted by bigmike55:
I think Manny is a good player. He could be a great player in the right system. In the 49ers 3-4 defensenisve scheme, he doesn't have the body or prototypical size of either a DE or an OLB. He's too tall and lanky to play OLB. He gets driven backwards too often by offensive tackles and pulling guards. He's not heavy or strong enough to play DE in a 3-4 defense.

Can he make occassional plays, sure. Is he one of the more athletic guys on the team, sure. But I don't think he fits into our defense. Maybe as a backup, but not a starter that would make an impact.

M.Lawson stats in 08: Played in 14 games,started in 10- 45t/33s,3sks,3pd,1ff

The guy did pretty good in 08 considering he came back from a major knee injury and missed 14 games in 07,he also was not used properly while under Nolan.

The guy is just 24yrs old,has been with the Niners for only 3yrs,is full of potential,is not only athletic but also smart and very fast and yet you see him as a
backup??

I'm sorry but you're giving a poor evaluation to a very talented,upcoming player.

Alot zoners expect instant Probowl caliber players like Patrick Willis and if they're not they call them nothing more than backups or busts and that is just not reality.

Manny Lawsons' best is yet to come.

Originally posted by Super5:

Originally posted by bigmike55:
I think Manny is a good player. He could be a great player in the right system. In the 49ers 3-4 defensenisve scheme, he doesn't have the body or prototypical size of either a DE or an OLB. He's too tall and lanky to play OLB. He gets driven backwards too often by offensive tackles and pulling guards. He's not heavy or strong enough to play DE in a 3-4 defense.

Can he make occassional plays, sure. Is he one of the more athletic guys on the team, sure. But I don't think he fits into our defense. Maybe as a backup, but not a starter that would make an impact.

M.Lawson stats in 08: Played in 14 games,started in 10- 45t/33s,3sks,3pd,1ff

The guy did pretty good in 08 considering he came back from a major knee injury and missed 14 games in 07,he also was not used properly while under Nolan.

The guy is just 24yrs old,has been with the Niners for only 3yrs,is full of potential,is not only athletic but also smart and very fast and yet you see him as a
backup??

I'm sorry but you're giving a poor evaluation to a very talented,upcoming player.

Alot zoners expect instant Probowl caliber players like Patrick Willis and if they're not they call them nothing more than backups or busts and that is just not reality.

Manny Lawsons' best is yet to come.

I couldn't agree more!

manny is gonna be a really good outside linebacker
hes already a great cover linebacker he just needs more experience in order to be a good pass rusher .

Originally posted by Super5:

Originally posted by bigmike55:
I think Manny is a good player. He could be a great player in the right system. In the 49ers 3-4 defensenisve scheme, he doesn't have the body or prototypical size of either a DE or an OLB. He's too tall and lanky to play OLB. He gets driven backwards too often by offensive tackles and pulling guards. He's not heavy or strong enough to play DE in a 3-4 defense.

Can he make occassional plays, sure. Is he one of the more athletic guys on the team, sure. But I don't think he fits into our defense. Maybe as a backup, but not a starter that would make an impact.

M.Lawson stats in 08: Played in 14 games,started in 10- 45t/33s,3sks,3pd,1ff

The guy did pretty good in 08 considering he came back from a major knee injury and missed 14 games in 07,he also was not used properly while under Nolan.

The guy is just 24yrs old,has been with the Niners for only 3yrs,is full of potential,is not only athletic but also smart and very fast and yet you see him as a
backup??

I'm sorry but you're giving a poor evaluation to a very talented,upcoming player.

Alot zoners expect instant Probowl caliber players like Patrick Willis and if they're not they call them nothing more than backups or busts and that is just not reality.

Manny Lawsons' best is yet to come.

I'm not saying the guy sucks. I'm saying he's pretty good, but look around the league at some of the elite OLBs. James Harrison, Demarcus Ware, Shawne Merriman.

All of these guys are big, tough, gritty, hard hitting guys. Low center of gravities, fast off the edge, and can hit. I know the job of an OLB is to stop the run and cover, but stopping the run is the first priority. That is not one of Manny Lawson's strengths. He was a DE in college, he has the speed to rush the QB and now drop back into coverage occassionally. But stopping the run is the first priority of any linebacker, especially under Mike Singletary.

he's very good against the run especially to the outside with his straight-line speed. And he's excellent in coverage. And I don't think he's horrible at rushing the passer. I like him.

Originally posted by Apples:
Jesus, he's not a bust, he's one of our best defensive players! He's not a great pass rusher, but he's damn good in coverage!

GAH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!

the thing though is...... in a 3-4 defense the main thing is to disguise where the 4 guy is coming from. if manny can't rush the passer then we're essentially going to send the same 4 guys. thus we might as well go 4-3 and get true pass rushing ends.

Originally posted by Super5:

Originally posted by bigmike55:
I think Manny is a good player. He could be a great player in the right system. In the 49ers 3-4 defensenisve scheme, he doesn't have the body or prototypical size of either a DE or an OLB. He's too tall and lanky to play OLB. He gets driven backwards too often by offensive tackles and pulling guards. He's not heavy or strong enough to play DE in a 3-4 defense.

Can he make occassional plays, sure. Is he one of the more athletic guys on the team, sure. But I don't think he fits into our defense. Maybe as a backup, but not a starter that would make an impact.

M.Lawson stats in 08: Played in 14 games,started in 10- 45t/33s,3sks,3pd,1ff

The guy did pretty good in 08 considering he came back from a major knee injury and missed 14 games in 07,he also was not used properly while under Nolan.

The guy is just 24yrs old,has been with the Niners for only 3yrs,is full of potential,is not only athletic but also smart and very fast and yet you see him as a
backup??

I'm sorry but you're giving a poor evaluation to a very talented,upcoming player.

Alot zoners expect instant Probowl caliber players like Patrick Willis and if they're not they call them nothing more than backups or busts and that is just not reality.

Manny Lawsons' best is yet to come.

I would like to add very disciplined. If he was in the Pats defense, he would really shine as they rely on their brains more a lot. Manny, in a couple of years, if not next year, will be a VERY crafty player. Have you ever seen the way he takes on blocks and handles blocks? He is very smart and is very good at turning his blocker into the hole to close it if he's not able to get the back. He is very good against the run because he is a smart player and understands the game.