Patrick Willis Defensive Rookie of the Year
One NFL scout called linebacker Patrick Willis “a beast.” And that was before Willis won The Associated Press 2007 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Willis’ dominant performance could have been overlooked because his San Francisco 49ers went 5-11 in a mediocre division. Instead, his league-leading 174 tackles and presence all over the field made him a runaway winner and the fifth straight linebacker to take the honor.
Willis earned 48 votes Friday from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. Only Carolina linebacker Jon Beason, with two, also received votes.
“It’s confirmation of what you’ve been doing as an individual,” Willis said. “From an individual perspective, it would be good for people that doubted, or didn’t know if you could be a No. 1 draft pick, or if you could come into the league and do well because of your size or where you might have played ball at … and show them that if you put your mind to it, you’re capable of anything.”
Source: ESPN
I think we we're really lucky to win that game... the defense wasn't great. They let gradkowski and campbell chuck ...
hey pundit, are we gonna get to see some highlights again this year?? i think most fans that visit this ...
The 49ers look flat on offense with the exception of gore. Nate Bynam has dropped 2 balls on one ...
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Awesome… You know, next season with Willis and Lawson at LB, and Nate Clements in the secondary, we’ve got the foundation of a nice defense. Get a dominating defensive lineman and we could be awesome!
willis <3
Just makes us lust for visions of a dominent defense next year….
Thank you Willis. You were a much needed bright spot.
52 is the man GO NINERS WILLIS for MVP!!!!!!!!!!!
did any one think any diffrent???????? i mean who eles had multable 20 tackle game this season
sorry for typos at work
Willis, Lawson and Briggs could have the making of a pretty darn good linebacking corps…
I agree that getting Lance Briggs would be incredible, but I’d rather see us get 1 or 2 stud D-Lineman. My guess is we couldn’t get everything we need in one off-season and despite our good cap situation, Briggs will demand huge dollars. We need a pass rush in a bad way and if we can get it, we have the backers already in-house to be a very good defense. Willis is a badass.
P.S. Hope we get Cam Cameron along with his offensive staff!!
We need a guy like Lance Briggs, he is a pass rushing monster, and in the 3-4 defense he will be moved to inside linebacker with… PATRICK WILLIS. He will want some money, but we have ALREADY talked to him. He wants to be here, because we will give him a long term deal and he lives near SAN FRAN. He wants to be close to his home. that is a big advantage for us. He ACTUALLY WANTS TO BE HERE. We should go after defensive linemen, but in the DRAFT.
I HOPE OVERALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR IS NEXT ON THE LIST!
This was a no brainer….WHO ELSE EVEN COMPARES!! The thing that gets me mad is that he won’t win the overall Rookie of the Year award because ESPN and foxsports have hyped up Peterson…even though Willis is far more dominant at his position.
WOW what a disappointment…nothing is set in stone yet, but it appears that Nolan IS REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT CHAN GAILEY. Hey Yorks, you might want to cut your losses right now before Nolan fucks up the team any worse….HOW CAN YOU PICK CHAN GAILEY??? He is a nobody that NO ONE WILL HAVE CONFIDENCE IN. Based on Nolan’s last choice (Hostler) I think we all have reason to be scared of any decision Nolan makes.
http://www.49erswebzone.com/content/news/view.php?id=12858
IF Nolan hires Chan Gailey that should prove to everyone that not only does NOlan have NO CLUE WHATSOEVER about what he is doing, but that McCloughan is going to go along with whatever IDIOTIC plan Nolan wants…..in case you didn’t know…THAT ISN’T A SIGN OF A STRONG OR COMPETENT GM!!!!
Another article…
http://www.49ersparadise.com/cgi-bin/news/news.cgi?action=display&num=15691
Ryan…calm down…mean nothin…1st interview….camz our guy as long as he wantz 2 b.
I know, it just VERY difficult when you DON’T KNOW if Nolan is going to make the right choice. I just wish I knew what Nolan was thinking right now. I am sure that he is weighing if Cameron will stick around or if he will take a college job (very likely) or should he go with one of his BUDDIES (Gailey or Billick). It is apparent that Martz is not a serious candidate so why not go with the best fit, which is Cameron. Furthermore, James Hardy is a second round draft pick unless HE BLOWS UP AT THE COMBINE….see Mel Kipers website…even he agrees. I wouldn’t mind taking him with our second pick, but NOT OUR FIRST PICK WHEN BOWMAN OR DOUCET could be available. I know Doucet is short, but he at least catches the ball.
And YES….Nolan being able to coach the south again in the senior bowl is a BIG DEAL…more time for scouts to find their man. McCloughan is an expert at that!!
Im so glad they drafted him instead of Adam Carriker.