Lawrence Okoye Thread of Epic Awesomeness

Originally posted by random49er:

Not sure you can sneak Okoye on the practice squad,...I wouldn't be surprised at all if a team went out of their way to give him spot #53 if he's waived. All it takes is one team.

i doubt any NFL team would be open to burn a roster spot for Okoye this year. despite the glowing reports, he's still a long ways away from playing in the regular season.

Originally posted by boast:

Originally posted by random49er:
Not sure you can sneak Okoye on the practice squad,...I wouldn't be surprised at all if a team went out of their way to give him spot #53 if he's waived. All it takes is one team.

i doubt any NFL team would be open to burn a roster spot for Okoye this year. despite the glowing reports, he's still a long ways away from playing in the regular season.

This. He will be safe on our PS

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by random49er:
Not sure you can sneak Okoye on the practice squad,...I wouldn't be surprised at all if a team went out of their way to give him spot #53 if he's waived. All it takes is one team.

Practice squad rules and procedures? Didn't some of the PS guys decline offers from other teams last year? He may be the type of guy who would gladly stay with an excellent coaching staff with a great team.

He has to actually clear waivers and get onto the PS before he can do that, i.e., decline another team. If another team claims him off waivers, he has no choice - unless he wants to quit football altogether. And then if he wants back in, the team that claimed him off waivers has first rights to him.

You have to look at the 53rd guy on some of the worst teams. That spot's value is very different than our 53rd. Don't be so sure.

Originally posted by random49er:
You have to look at the 53rd guy on some of the worst teams. That spot's value is very different than our 53rd. Don't be so sure.

Agreed! And why give him all of this extra, added coaching...invest so much time in him when you then just risk handing him over to another team? He either makes the 53 (may or may not be "active") or he doesn't make the team at all IMHO.

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:

Originally posted by Tigerlaw:

Originally posted by NinerBuff: per MM...Defensive linemen Lawrence Okoye and Mike Purcell worked against each other on getting off at the snap of the ball under the watchful eye of defensive line coach Jim Tomsula during positions drills in practice. Tomsula seemed to be particular encouraged with what he saw from Okoye. Once practice began, Okoye and Purcell had one particularly nice showing in 11-on-11 drills against the first-team offense. Purcell got some push against C Daniel Kilgore, while Okoye more than held his own against LG Mike Iupati.

Did he hold his own against the run (really impressive as this is Iupati's strength) or as a pass rusher (Iupati's weakest skill)?

I don't really think it matters. Just the fact that a guy with zero football experience is holding his own against one of the best OG's in the league, in any aspect of the game, is very impressive.

You can take this news in two ways:
1. Evidence that Okyoe can hang with the best of them. OR
2. Evidence that Iupati is way out of form.

I think it's a good sign regardless... we know what we have in Iupati, he may struggle in pass protection, but even if Okoye held his own against Iupati in pass protection, it's still a good sign...

I suspect he might get a snap or 2 in pre-season games to give him a taste and see how he fares in a game environment.

I don't think he will make the 53, but they might do that just to retain him.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by random49er:
You have to look at the 53rd guy on some of the worst teams. That spot's value is very different than our 53rd. Don't be so sure.

Agreed! And why give him all of this extra, added coaching...invest so much time in him when you then just risk handing him over to another team? He either makes the 53 (may or may not be "active") or he doesn't make the team at all IMHO.

Thats the risk they make every year when they cut down to the 53 and set their PS. The claiming team has to put a guy with a few months of NFL experience on their 53 man roster and he has to learn a new playbook, Unless Okoye absolutely dominates in preseason I dont think we are gonna have to worry about another team picking him up, also who says that Okoye would even accept the other teams request? We had guys last year on our PS decline other teams requests to be added to their 53 man.

It will be fun to watch what he does on Thursday

Being a coach myself (4th-8th graders) I have to say that this just speaks to the coaching skills of Jim Tomsula and why he should NEVER be allows to coach elsewhere. (Ok, don't freak out, what I mean by "NEVER allowed" is pay whatever it takes to keep him on staff.) I'm really pulling for Okoye to make this team.

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by random49er:
You have to look at the 53rd guy on some of the worst teams. That spot's value is very different than our 53rd. Don't be so sure.

Agreed! And why give him all of this extra, added coaching...invest so much time in him when you then just risk handing him over to another team? He either makes the 53 (may or may not be "active") or he doesn't make the team at all IMHO.

Thats the risk they make every year when they cut down to the 53 and set their PS. The claiming team has to put a guy with a few months of NFL experience on their 53 man roster and he has to learn a new playbook, Unless Okoye absolutely dominates in preseason I dont think we are gonna have to worry about another team picking him up, also who says that Okoye would even accept the other teams request? We had guys last year on our PS decline other teams requests to be added to their 53 man.

If he's cut, he must be subject to waivers before he can be signed to the PS. He can not deny a waiver claim. Once he is signed to the PS, he can deny an offer to join any team's active roster to stay here.

(pretty much what the post 6 spots bove yours already said )

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
Seems like a trivial distinction at this stage. Glad to hear the news overall seems a little more encouraging every day.

I'm not trying to trivialize the news. But knowing what he did well at would give us a better idea of his progress.

If Okoye is holding his own against the run blocking of Iupati that is HUUUUGE. That means he is getting better at leverage etc. (i.e., the football skills he needs to build)

If he did it as a pass rusher then it is still nice but it could also mean he just relied on his Olympian athleticism. Iupati is known for whiffing on the faster interior defenders.

As someone who is very interested in the development of Okoye these minor news bits are actually important to me. I really loved the reporting of the face smashing drills Tomsula had Okoye run.

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by random49er:

You have to look at the 53rd guy on some of the worst teams. That spot's value is very different than our 53rd. Don't be so sure.

Agreed! And why give him all of this extra, added coaching...invest so much time in him when you then just risk handing him over to another team? He either makes the 53 (may or may not be "active") or he doesn't make the team at all IMHO.

Thats the risk they make every year when they cut down to the 53 and set their PS. The claiming team has to put a guy with a few months of NFL experience on their 53 man roster and he has to learn a new playbook, Unless Okoye absolutely dominates in preseason I dont think we are gonna have to worry about another team picking him up, also who says that Okoye would even accept the other teams request? We had guys last year on our PS decline other teams requests to be added to their 53 man.

Not worried at all about another team claiming him on waivers. There are a lot of good players that are ready to play NOW that they can put on their final 53 instead of taking a guy who won't play a down for them this year. Teams with any injuries even more so would have less reason to add him.

While he is making progress I just can't see a going from never having played to the game to a roster spot in a NFL team no matter how good of athlete he is. I can see him landing on the practice squad and I actually do think he would clear waivers. I agree with all of you on Tomsula (even though I think he looks a little like Ron Jeremy) the man can sure coach a player up.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Not worried at all about another team claiming him on waivers. There are a lot of good players that are ready to play NOW that they can put on their final 53 instead of taking a guy who won't play a down for them this year. Teams with any injuries even more so would have less reason to add him.

Beat me to it! If there is a team out there so bad that they can keep projects on their roster then he might be grabbed but likely not.