Opinion on Manny Lawson

Originally posted by 49ersnum1:
all he needs to do is pack on weight, hit the weight room, become more explosive to take and shed off block. then he becomes the complete package. Manny Lawson is a VERY GOOD cover OLB, not many LB come even close to Lawsons speed and cover skills.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Because he is not a good pass rusher. He is a better cover OLB with speed to match up against WR's, TE's and RB's.

Originally posted by the49erfan:
The main reason why Manny Lawson hasn't been successful as a pass-rusher.

Manny Lawson not being successful as a pass-rusher has more to do with how Nolan taught him and how he used him on the field. When Manny Lawson was drafted a lot of NFL people questioned if he could make the tradition from 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB. What Nolan had Manny Lawson focus on was his coverage skills, since after all he was converting to OLB. How to cover in the open field is a big part of an OLB in a 3-4's job! Part of his new responsibilities in his new position required him to be able to cover TE's as well as RB's & FB's out of the backfield. People who complain about his so-called lack of pass rushing skills or ability need to realize this! Manny Lawson wasn't drafted to be an every down pass-rusher. Nolan saw him as a part-time pass-rusher part-time DB which in fact in a 3-4 equals an OLB!

Keep in mind people, that Nolan ran a hybrid defense which had no real structure or foundation, if you ask me, because he wanted the defense to adjust to the opposing team's offense on the fly instead dictating to them what they could run play wise. Every week the team was learning a new scheme. That's why players never knew where they were supposed to line-up any given play. That's why their was a lack of communication and why coverages broke down. Nolan was the only one who knew what he wanted it to look like. And looking back on it I can see some truth to that, especially after considering an article I read a while back after he was fired that stated that he would basically skate though practices.

It mentioned that Nolan wasn't as much of a disciplinarian as he had folks outside of the daily organizational activities in particular the fans. Who can only go by what we here until the whole truth comes out! The article centered around the fact that Nolan would not make the player continuously and repeatedly execute a play even if the play wasn't run correctly. Huh'!? How can any coach think that that type of approach in going to build your team into Championship caliber team!

It also talked about a tradition that Nolan came up with that Singletary said that he was doing away was giving the players an extra day off if they won on Sunday. That's why the players were lazy and had lackadaisical attitudes! Players take on the personality of the head coach, so if the coach has the type of attitude that his team can get-away with doing just enough to break a sweat during practice and can just show up on sundays and win games what type of mind set do you think his players are gonna have going forward?

Yes, players are responsible for their work habits and work ethics, But if they do their part and keep themselves in tip-top form, then it's up to the coaching staff, namely the head coach to put them in the best position to succeed on the field.

I apologize for being long winded.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Because he is not a good pass rusher. He is a better cover OLB with speed to match up against WR's, TE's and RB's.