Resign Isaac Sopoaga???

I'd sign him for the vet minimum as a backup DE and NT. Time for a rookie to take over and see what Ian Williams can do. I doubt Soap gets much better.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
You don't necessarily need a "big fat guy", I think there's a lot to be said about a more athletic, more mobile NT, a guy like Jesse Williams could be very good in the middle and could even handle being out there for 3 downs if necessary for whatever reason. The downside about some of the real big guys is that they inevitably struggle with conditioning and get worn down by the end of the game. If they could have a nice rotation of 2 NT's going, that would be ideal.

I totally want them to move wherever they need to to take Jesse Williams. He has huge size (6'4", 320 lbs.), but by most accounts, he also has a non-stop motor. I'm just saying I'd like to see him at tackle and an even bigger guy at NT. I want them to get larger on the inside D line. I think the way to handle Russell Wilson is to make sure the OLB's contain him and keep him from leaving the pocket and the inner guys just keep crushing the pocket. In addition, if you have a couple of the inner guys who just can't be blocked by one guy, one of the ILB's can be there to shoot in the middle and drop that little a-hole before he gets the chance to see a lane.

Originally posted by GNielsen:
I totally want them to move wherever they need to to take Jesse Williams. He has huge size (6'4", 320 lbs.), but by most accounts, he also has a non-stop motor. I'm just saying I'd like to see him at tackle and an even bigger guy at NT. I want them to get larger on the inside D line. I think the way to handle Russell Wilson is to make sure the OLB's contain him and keep him from leaving the pocket and the inner guys just keep crushing the pocket. In addition, if you have a couple of the inner guys who just can't be blocked by one guy, one of the ILB's can be there to shoot in the middle and drop that little a-hole before he gets the chance to see a lane.

This. I want an NT that will regularly occupy multiple blockers. Justin Smith also occupies multiple blockers. Now you have 2 guys requiring multiple blockers, that is pretty much ideal, making it hard for opposing offenses to account for Ray McDonald, Aldon, Brooks..etc without bringing in additional blockers.

Oh and if the 49ers can't find an NT this year, Mount McCullers will be available next year. 6'6", 375 pounds.

Regardless of whether we draft a Williams from Alabama.. we still need to keep Sopoaga.. its too much to rely on a rookie the whole season.. we need depth

Overrated overacheiver.

I think we let him walk, and its the reason im firmly for drafting a NT in the first. We need a big monster in the middle to eat the double and free up the DE's and LB's to do their thing.

I'd rather draft another guy or roll with the Frenchman Jean-Francois

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
I'd rather draft another guy or roll with the Frenchman Jean-Francois

He's nothing special either, decent guy for depth, not legit starter material, looked absolutely overwhelmed at times when replacing Justin.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
I'd rather draft another guy or roll with the Frenchman Jean-Francois

He's nothing special either, decent guy for depth, not legit starter material, looked absolutely overwhelmed at times when replacing Justin.

Maybe so but I'd rather roll with RJF than an aging Soap

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
Maybe so but I'd rather roll with RJF than an aging Soap

True, although there's a couple guys out there I like as well. Aubrayo Franklin is one I would be happy with the 49ers bringing back and rotating with a rookie.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by GNielsen:
I totally want them to move wherever they need to to take Jesse Williams. He has huge size (6'4", 320 lbs.), but by most accounts, he also has a non-stop motor. I'm just saying I'd like to see him at tackle and an even bigger guy at NT. I want them to get larger on the inside D line. I think the way to handle Russell Wilson is to make sure the OLB's contain him and keep him from leaving the pocket and the inner guys just keep crushing the pocket. In addition, if you have a couple of the inner guys who just can't be blocked by one guy, one of the ILB's can be there to shoot in the middle and drop that little a-hole before he gets the chance to see a lane.

This. I want an NT that will regularly occupy multiple blockers. Justin Smith also occupies multiple blockers. Now you have 2 guys requiring multiple blockers, that is pretty much ideal, making it hard for opposing offenses to account for Ray McDonald, Aldon, Brooks..etc without bringing in additional blockers.

I'd love jesse god that would be amazing. Kid demands double teams, single means he's going to win the match up every time. Be a hugh upgrade over Issac even as a rookie. let Ian and jesse rotate in to keep both fresh would be a dream... Hope he's there hard to say he would though, he's a beast and bama so he's not going to be over looked. If he falls like wilfork did that be amazing... At this point anyone would be better than Issac at nose we have a great front 6 it be 7 with a player like jesse.

Originally posted by TheGoldDiggerrrr:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by GNielsen:
I totally want them to move wherever they need to to take Jesse Williams. He has huge size (6'4", 320 lbs.), but by most accounts, he also has a non-stop motor. I'm just saying I'd like to see him at tackle and an even bigger guy at NT. I want them to get larger on the inside D line. I think the way to handle Russell Wilson is to make sure the OLB's contain him and keep him from leaving the pocket and the inner guys just keep crushing the pocket. In addition, if you have a couple of the inner guys who just can't be blocked by one guy, one of the ILB's can be there to shoot in the middle and drop that little a-hole before he gets the chance to see a lane.

This. I want an NT that will regularly occupy multiple blockers. Justin Smith also occupies multiple blockers. Now you have 2 guys requiring multiple blockers, that is pretty much ideal, making it hard for opposing offenses to account for Ray McDonald, Aldon, Brooks..etc without bringing in additional blockers.

I'd love jesse god that would be amazing. Kid demands double teams, single means he's going to win the match up every time. Be a hugh upgrade over Issac even as a rookie. let Ian and jesse rotate in to keep both fresh would be a dream... Hope he's there hard to say he would though, he's a beast and bama so he's not going to be over looked. If he falls like wilfork did that be amazing... At this point anyone would be better than Issac at nose we have a great front 6 it be 7 with a player like jesse.

I think Jenkins is much more realistic. He gets alot of hate around here for no reason. He would be a good addition.

Originally posted by TheGoldDiggerrrr:
I'd love jesse god that would be amazing. Kid demands double teams, single means he's going to win the match up every time. Be a hugh upgrade over Issac even as a rookie. let Ian and jesse rotate in to keep both fresh would be a dream... Hope he's there hard to say he would though, he's a beast and bama so he's not going to be over looked. If he falls like wilfork did that be amazing... At this point anyone would be better than Issac at nose we have a great front 6 it be 7 with a player like jesse.

I want a guy who can push the pocket, not give the QB room to step up and throw, make them move laterally where they can be easy pickings for either of the OLB's or DE's.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
This.....ding ding, one again, people's weird emotional attachment to players prevents them from seeing the reality of the situation. Those rankings identify the problems with the defense that people fully accept in terms of Whitner and Culliver but yet some want to make excuses for an NT that isn't even performing up to average standards for his position.


All NT's have the job of taking up blockers, Soap does it more poorly than most, being stopped by a single blocker a lot of the time. Justin Smith is the guy on the 49ers defense who takes up multiple blockers, and when he was injured, its no surprise that the pass rush went away and the front four fell apart.

Even when hes single blocked hes pushed off his gap. Ive given this a lot of thought and I don't know if we could find a replacement before the season starts. We may draft one but I don't think the prospect would be better than sopo in his first year.I think resign him at a discount for 2 years and draft him an understudy. Like Jesse Williams or John hankins.

Originally posted by eonblue:
Even when hes single blocked hes pushed off his gap. Ive given this a lot of thought and I don't know if we could find a replacement before the season starts. We may draft one but I don't think the prospect would be better than sopo in his first year.I think resign him at a discount for 2 years and draft him an understudy. Like Jesse Williams or John hankins.

Franklin.