Is Manny Lawson Onboard with the 49ers New Culture?

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Face it people...he's a decent 3-4 player with motivation issues.

Source? I've never heard any knock on ML's work ethic before.

I didn't say work ethics. I said motivational issues which the original writer posted about and the SAME thing I saw after watching, recording and watching every game again objectively this year as well. If you've followed Manny closely, it's very easy to see but if you need a salient example of his actual motivation in correlation to his production, watch him screaming and pouting on the field when he was first pulled for Brooks and his NEXT game where his ego was called out and he played exceptional. But as always, his "inspired" play was only short lived and Brooks maintained taking over Manny's 3rd down pass rushing role for the remainder of the season, signed his tender and then negotiated a long(er)-term deal with us. Coincidence?

Originally posted by NinerGM:
The 49ers have a couple of those players "technical experts" who can be overwhelmed by opposing talent and we will ultimately need to replace them to get to the next level:

Abrauyo Franklin
Eric Heitmann
Josh Morgan

Just my 2 cents.

I agree with these three for sure.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Face it people...he's a decent 3-4 player with motivation issues.

Source? I've never heard any knock on ML's work ethic before.

I didn't say work ethics. I said motivational issues which the original writer posted about and the SAME thing I saw after watching, recording and watching every game again objectively this year as well. If you've followed Manny closely, it's very easy to see but if you need a salient example of his actual motivation in correlation to his production, watch him screaming and pouting on the field when he was first pulled for Brooks and his NEXT game where his ego was called out and he played exceptional. But as always, his "inspired" play was only short lived and Brooks maintained taking over Manny's 3rd down pass rushing role for the remainder of the season, signed his tender and then negotiated a long(er)-term deal with us. Coincidence?

I didn't see either of the underlined examples you reference (your objective watching of pouting and ego-getting-called-out actions), so I can't speak to that. I will say that I have never heard of him being a malcontent before his recent no-show at OTAs.

I understand that opinions differ especially when it comes to players near/dear to our hearts. Thats wassup I'm always the loner as a 49er fan its rare I find anyone who thinks much of the team at all so its cool on the WZ but I get frustrated because some people think we have all these great players who are really just average guys. I think Manny falls in this category. An average player but because he plays for San Fran people hype him up. The guy is average across the board borderline good in some areas. I typed in "manny lawson highlights" just now on youtube and came up with slim results lol .. there was more on Ty Lawson that came back .. Manny is not the playmaker some are trying to make him out to be ...

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Face it people...he's a decent 3-4 player with motivation issues.

Source? I've never heard any knock on ML's work ethic before.

I didn't say work ethics. I said motivational issues which the original writer posted about and the SAME thing I saw after watching, recording and watching every game again objectively this year as well. If you've followed Manny closely, it's very easy to see but if you need a salient example of his actual motivation in correlation to his production, watch him screaming and pouting on the field when he was first pulled for Brooks and his NEXT game where his ego was called out and he played exceptional. But as always, his "inspired" play was only short lived and Brooks maintained taking over Manny's 3rd down pass rushing role for the remainder of the season, signed his tender and then negotiated a long(er)-term deal with us. Coincidence?

I didn't see either of the underlined examples you reference (your objective watching of pouting and ego-getting-called-out actions), so I can't speak to that. I will say that I have never heard of him being a malcontent before his recent no-show at OTAs.

Sounds like passion to me

he sucks at madden

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Face it people...he's a decent 3-4 player with motivation issues.

Source? I've never heard any knock on ML's work ethic before.

I didn't say work ethics. I said motivational issues which the original writer posted about and the SAME thing I saw after watching, recording and watching every game again objectively this year as well. If you've followed Manny closely, it's very easy to see but if you need a salient example of his actual motivation in correlation to his production, watch him screaming and pouting on the field when he was first pulled for Brooks and his NEXT game where his ego was called out and he played exceptional. But as always, his "inspired" play was only short lived and Brooks maintained taking over Manny's 3rd down pass rushing role for the remainder of the season, signed his tender and then negotiated a long(er)-term deal with us. Coincidence?

I didn't see either of the underlined examples you reference (your objective watching of pouting and ego-getting-called-out actions), so I can't speak to that. I will say that I have never heard of him being a malcontent before his recent no-show at OTAs.

No worries...I can't remember what exact game it was right off the top of my head (I'm sure others can) but I believe it was the same game the original writer was referencing. I took extra notice watching Manny come off the field for Brooks on the sideline b/c it was the first time I have really seen that much "passion" in him. He carried it over to the next game and he AND Brooks had a great game. But then, the motivation tappered off and Brooks continued to shine. By the end of the year, it was all about Brooks and a desire to see him in more on plays (and Singletary having to back the media/fans off some stating that Brooks is still in development but there is more to come).

Manny, like many players, seems like he's just one of those guys who does just enough to get by and has never had a fire lit under his ass (until then). I just don't think we have enough matches on this team to keep him lit to achieve the production we originally drafted him for. I see the no-show and "no comment" by his agent as an ego thing and a sign Manny is on the out.

That's not to say he won't man-up but for the first time, he won't be HANDED the job this year. That goes for Haralson too esp. if we draft Graham.

I think Manny will be ok on our team & hope he can get back to where he was before he tore his ACL. Those first couple games before he tore his knee up he looked like a caged lion ready to pounce!

Originally posted by tohara3:
I think Manny will be ok on our team & hope he can get back to where he was before he tore his ACL. Those first couple games before he tore his knee up he looked like a caged lion ready to pounce!

You gotta figure that Gore has some good tips on how to strengthen that knee too.

Meh, Lawson is just another guy. Nothing special and can be easily replaced.

Nice guy, seems like a team guy. Nothing special on Sundays.

I'm also not sure where his so called amazing cover ability came from.

One nice pick against a horrid rams team and the guy is suddenly Deion. LOL

Originally posted by BurritoSmuggler:
That article was poorly written... And it was all based off the writer's personal assumptions. Everyone had the same info. And MM and Barrows BOTH said that skipping these OTAs in peticular was not a big deal, especially since the HEAD coach wasn't even there himself. Lawson did NOTHING to say he "isn't on board" except miss that OTA, which FYI, other players missed too, but coincidentally, this writer decides not to mention.. Awful article. Trying to create a stir from something that isn't there.

Agreed. Much ado about nothing. Manny may be a lot of things but being a liability generally isn't one of them. Poorly thought out this was.-Yoda

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Gavintech:

Originally posted by Rsrkshn:

Originally posted by susweel:
Manny is an average player, niners need to upgrade that position. Maybe they already told him he is not gonna be the starter next year and it pissed him off.

Entirely plausible.

I too have to roll my eyes at the homies who are constantly constantly characterizing him as a great coverage guy. These homies have to come up with something obscure to justify his presence because he sure hasn't lived up to his billing. I've watched him: Too many times he's running around like a chicken with his head cut off. After all this time, put a fork in it . . . it's done! Now if he was a sixth round pick . . . fine he's done ok. But for a first rounder: FAIL. Realistically, had he been a sixth rounder the team would have moved on and looked for a better solution.

Let him test the FA market. Guaranteed, at best he gets back-up money

Sorry to be so harsh, Manny. Great guy. You're doing your best and have put in the work. It's been nice knowin' ya.

Hope we get a monster pass rusher in the draft. Would be great!

It's ridiculous to say letting a guy that does his job very well is a good idea. He's not a monster passrusher but that is not his #1 priority (that would be Haralson's). That being said he's in the backfield a lot creating pressure and getting TFL's. He also rarely lets running plays around his side of the field go for a gain. Either by not letting the runner turn the corner so Willis or a DB can come up and make the tackle or by making the tackle himself (or forcing the RB out of bounds, which doesn't show up on Manny's stat sheet).

And yes, he IS good in coverage. He's no Champ Bailey but he's a linebacker, he's not supposed to be. Compared to many other starters that play his position he is MUCH better than they are in coverage.

Don't forget, he still lead the team in sacks, a team that was near the top of the league in sacks overall in 2009, when he was not even close to a full time passrusher.

Good effort-post but totally inaccurate esp. for last year.

I've been saying this in a number of places and always get shouted down by the Homer Extreme Section. Lawson is replaceable and not even as good as Julian Peterson was. We didn't give JP huge money and I can't see us doing the same for a lesser player. Absolutely replaceable - especially in this year's draft.

"not even as good as Julien Peterson" doesn't mean much when he was the best of his kind in the NFL. That's like saying the Celtics shouldn't want to keep Paul Pierce because he's not as good as LeBron James. No, Manny is not as good as JP, he's a poor man's JP. A very good linebacker that is very good at all aspects of playing his position. Not one that excels at one aspect but is lacking in others.

The reason JP wasn't resigned is because we had no cap room to sign him. JP, TO, Garcia, Andre Carter we all let go to test FA because the 9ers were in cap hell. Not because they were not good enough to resign.

Originally posted by bjghum:
Meh, Lawson is just another guy. Nothing special and can be easily replaced.

Nice guy, seems like a team guy. Nothing special on Sundays.

I'm also not sure where his so called amazing cover ability came from.

One nice pick against a horrid rams team and the guy is suddenly Deion. LOL

The pick has nothing to do with it. He gets that label because he is good in coverage. Very good for a OLB. When you excel at something compared to other NFL starters at your position you are considered to be good at that thing...

Who in the Hell is Anthony Cruz and what in the Hell does he know?

Originally posted by Gavintech:

Originally posted by bjghum:
Meh, Lawson is just another guy. Nothing special and can be easily replaced.

Nice guy, seems like a team guy. Nothing special on Sundays.

I'm also not sure where his so called amazing cover ability came from.

One nice pick against a horrid rams team and the guy is suddenly Deion. LOL

The pick has nothing to do with it. He gets that label because he is good in coverage. Very good for a OLB. When you excel at something compared to other NFL starters at your position you are considered to be good at that thing...

Give me one example of this guy having an impact in coverage.