Patrick needs to...

I said something about this last season about willis being under utilized.. Thank god for an actual coaching staff

Manusky's blitzes were always the same lame blitzes. Last year was the 1st time they actually blitzed the A gap up the middle with either ILB. Usually his blitxes are safety blitzes that got picked up easily.

Willis improving as a pass rusher, scary thought.

It sounds like Bowman is doing well in blitz drills. Having a 3-4 defense where the 4th or 5th pass rushers can come from anywhere (OLB, ILB, S, CB, or Nickle) is pretty tough to scheme against. Actually having all of those potential blitzers working on defeating blocks seems obvious, so I'm glad they are finally doing it this year.

Originally posted by Hopper:
Willis improving as a pass rusher, scary thought.

Originally posted by canadian49erfan:

Originally posted by Hopper:
Willis improving as a pass rusher, scary thought.

Yeah, I remember him beating a couple QBs to their drops last year (Brees and Anderson, I think). Getting him past the blockers faster could be nasty!

yeah i really liked that piece. especially the whole getting willis after the qb more.. fangio said willis needed to improve as a pass rusher and how he is behind in that regard. that actually took me by surprise a little bit. we havent blitzed willis much over the years. but when we have he has been a terror. I thought he had displayed pretty good pass rushing skills up to this point in his career.
man i cant wait to see what fangio has in store for willis and this defense. i am jacked up for this season.

Ive said before that I think he's the best pass rusher on the team. I think if he were put at OLB he'd get 12+ sacks. Hopefully they really will blitz him a lot this year.

So many people including me said this last year, honestly arm chair coaching was better than single cell.
At any rate im really glad were teaching our best player how to be even better in an area of extreme need.

That was always my biggest complaint with Manusky. Willis was our best pass rusher, but he rarely sent him after the QB. I assumed he didn't trust Spikes' range.

Originally posted by btthepunk:
Ive said before that I think he's the best pass rusher on the team. I think if he were put at OLB he'd get 12+ sacks. Hopefully they really will blitz him a lot this year.

No, Justin Smith is by far our best pass rusher. Willis has had success blitzing (not the same as pass rushing) because of his incredible speed and instincts (reading the snap, shooting the gap).

However, Fangio is right in saying that Willis needs work. He's not a pass rusher at all... he doesn't beat blockers. He is held up way too easily by a RB.

He would struggle mightily as a full time OLB.

That said, I think he would be effective if we moved him around to blitz.

Aldon and Willis stunting around Justin Smith is =

Originally posted by Wodwo:

Originally posted by btthepunk:
Ive said before that I think he's the best pass rusher on the team. I think if he were put at OLB he'd get 12+ sacks. Hopefully they really will blitz him a lot this year.

No, Justin Smith is by far our best pass rusher. Willis has had success blitzing (not the same as pass rushing) because of his incredible speed and instincts (reading the snap, shooting the gap).

However, Fangio is right in saying that Willis needs work. He's not a pass rusher at all... he doesn't beat blockers. He is held up way too easily by a RB.

He would struggle mightily as a full time OLB.

That said, I think he would be effective if we moved him around to blitz.

Aldon and Willis stunting around Justin Smith is =

I disagree with that. Before he was drafted most experts were saying he could play in any linebacker position in any defense.
I know (most) coaches know more than us but I dont think pass rushing/blitzing were a weakness for him. The previous coaches just didn't want him to because for some reason they thought sacks weren't important.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
Yeah, I remember him beating a couple QBs to their drops last year (Brees and Anderson, I think). Getting him past the blockers faster could be nasty!

Yeah, and that one time in preseason last year against the Vikings, where he almost retired Favre before his final season had even begun!

Originally posted by btthepunk:
I disagree with that. Before he was drafted most experts were saying he could play in any linebacker position in any defense.
I know (most) coaches know more than us but I dont think pass rushing/blitzing were a weakness for him. The previous coaches just didn't want him to because for some reason they thought sacks weren't important.

I'm just giving my opinion based on what I've seen him do in the NFL. He hasn't shown me that he can effectively beat pass blockers. Reports from camp seem to confirm my belief. He struggled in pass rushing drills.

I expect that he will fix this issue quickly. I ain't even worried.