Isaac Sopoaga moving to NT

Originally posted by 80849er4life:
Im all for it.......that man is a line mover......he is sole reason why Justin Smith is a Pro Bowler.

Yeah....not really, but ok!

Originally posted by ninerlifer:

Originally posted by 80849er4life:
Im all for it.......that man is a line mover......he is sole reason why Justin Smith is a Pro Bowler.

Yeah....not really, but ok!

Originally posted by ninerlifer:

Originally posted by 80849er4life:
Im all for it.......that man is a line mover......he is sole reason why Justin Smith is a Pro Bowler.

Yeah....not really, but ok!

It's one of those IMO kinda things but nobady cant deny it......

Originally posted by ninerlifer:
I think RJF is more than capable of filling in. He had a great pre season against starters last year....and filled in well in spot duty to spell Franklin...alot of people are forgetting about this guy.

lol i'd rather give RJF the job, We all know isaac can't do it. Been their done that he can't handle the double team he's just going to not move and really do nothing for willis!

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by jimmy49erfan:

Originally posted by ninerlifer:
I think RJF is more than capable of filling in. He had a great pre season against starters last year....and filled in well in spot duty to spell Franklin...alot of people are forgetting about this guy.

RJF look good in pre-season and the during the season got his ass mauled. Better off with Soap and moving RJF to LDE if Franklin gets to FA. Atleast until RJF gets bigger and much much stronger.

Much, much stronger? The dude is our teams squat champion (or something close to it). He just needs to learn the position, though I dont know he has the ideal mass/ frame.

His upper body strength isnt on par with whats needed for NT right now. Franklin or Soap are just on different levels than RJF. I dont want to imply that RJF is weak or anything. Hes just not like those 2 monsters yet. He needs atleast a good 20-25 lbs more to do damage vs nfl vets. I even say another year learning the position too. Then hopefully they sign him and dont let him test the market like Franklin or Lawson.

I know the 49ers' website lists Ricky Jean-Francois at 295 pounds, but if I'm not mistaken, he's now somewhere between 310-315!

Originally posted by PTulini:


I know the 49ers' website lists Ricky Jean-Francois at 295 pounds, but if I'm not mistaken, he's now somewhere between 310-315!

When hes 325 330 hes ready to start

Originally posted by jimmy49erfan:

Originally posted by PTulini:


I know the 49ers' website lists Ricky Jean-Francois at 295 pounds, but if I'm not mistaken, he's now somewhere between 310-315!

When hes 325 330 hes ready to start

But Aubrayo Franklin is 6'1 and 317?

Last season, our DL coach stated that RJF bulked up from 295 to 310. This is the ideal size of NT that Fangio said he prefers.

RJF had up and down moments in the regular season. He said that he studied what he did wrong, and knows he has work to do. He seems to have the hard work ethic to make me encouraged that he can further improve. I was hoping that SF would draft a rookie (like Jurrell Casey) to compete with RJF for the NT role. Sopoaga does his job well at LE... though many fans think otherwise.

Either way, I really hope we add a quality DL to push everyone or at least be good depth.

Would not be happy about this at all.

Spend the damn money and re-sign Franklin. Don't understand why they even entertain the notion of letting him go.

And RJF isn't nearly ready to be the starter, so don't go their either.

[ Edited by Schulzy on May 9, 2011 at 15:46:46 ]

i just want to have a NT battle at camp may the best man win but if we cant resign franklin the ideal lineup would be

smith RJF soap

Originally posted by Schulzy:
Would not be happy about this at all.

Spend the damn money and re-sign Franklin. Don't understand why they even entertain the notion of letting him go.

And RJF isn't nearly ready to be the starter, so don't go their either.

1.) You don't know if Franklin even wants to stay here (he's a UFA and can go anywhere)
2.) Franklin is good, but he's not THAT good that you just pay him what he wants (this is the issue)
3.) You don't know if RJF is ready or not, but this post is about Soap starting...not RJF

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by Schulzy:
Would not be happy about this at all.

Spend the damn money and re-sign Franklin. Don't understand why they even entertain the notion of letting him go.

And RJF isn't nearly ready to be the starter, so don't go their either.

1.) You don't know if Franklin even wants to stay here (he's a UFA and can go anywhere)
2.) Franklin is good, but he's not THAT good that you just pay him what he wants (this is the issue)
3.) You don't know if RJF is ready or not, but this post is about Soap starting...not RJF

He's one of the best and most over looked NTs in the entire league. I'm not saying to overpay for him, but to even entertain the notion of letting him go without giving him a fair long term offer is simply dumb - especially when there is NO suitable replacement for him.

And Soap has already started at NT before, and wasn't impressive.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:

Originally posted by English:
We have been here before. And if I recall, it didnt go all that well. If this is the way it goes, why did t we draft a NT on the 3rd day? Not to start, but to backup and for the future?

That was in 2005/2006 if I'm not mistaken, after only Soap's first and second years in the NFL (missed his rookie season in 2004 with a neck injury). Franklin didn't do squat in his first few years in Baltimore either...it wasn't until AF had a few years under his belt that he was able to effectively play the 3-4 nose.

Point being, that's an extremely difficult position to master (probably the toughest on defense in terms of the combination of strength, technique and awareness required), and it just takes some guys a few years to really excel at it.

Agree

Originally posted by oldman9er:
check it out, NC...

Quote:
While at Stanford, Fua played in Vic Fangio's 3-4 defense, which gives him some unique insight as to certain aspects of the defense. Fua spoke with the media today and 49ers.com had a few of his comments related to his nose tackle role in Fangio's 3-4: "You wanted to penetrate, but not penetrate through gaps," Fua said. "You wanted to knock your guy back and get penetration pressing your man into the backfield. We played a 3-4 hybrid where I was playing both a shaded nose (tackle) and knock guys back one way, play head up and also as a three-technique. I've had experience all across the line."

http://www.ninersnation.com/2011/2/26/2017053/2011-nfl-combine-sione-fua-vic-fangio-3-4-2011-nfl-draft

Thank you oldman9er! And um, no, we don't have that kind of NT on our team right now. This, to me, sounds more like two-gapper NT (e.g. Wilfork). You can get away with a smaller guy in college and do this but if this is what Fangio wants to do (and I agree with this philosophy), in the NFL, you'll need a Wilfork for that, not a Franklin, RJF and certainly not a Sopoaga!