08-09-2007, 09:13 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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Sopoaga has a nose for the defensive line
Sopoaga has a nose for the defensive line
Quote:
Nose tackles by necessity are thick of girth, squat of build and powerful enough to take up space and not give up ground. Isaac Sopoaga fits that description at 6-foot-2 and 334 pounds.
He'll be starting for the 49ers at least through the preseason and maybe beyond with Aubrayo Franklin recovering from a sprained knee ligament.
There was a time, though, about 50 pounds ago, when Sopoaga terrorized opponents in Pago Pago, American Samoa, as a strong safety weighing in at 282 pounds. He also played fullback and kicked for Samoana High.
"I was like the king," Sopoaga said. "They just sent me. I ran over o-linemen. It was fun. I had a running start of 10 to 12 yards."
Starting Monday at Candlestick against Denver in the first exhibition game, Sopoaga will get a running start of oh, say, two or three inches before encountering the Broncos' center.
Size, width and strength are not a problem for Sopoaga, one of five 49ers able to work out with 200-pound dumbbells ... in each hand. He can also bench press 535 pounds.
The issues with Sopoaga are technique and consistency. He has a tendency to stay engaged with blockers too long. Of course, some defensive calls have him occupying blockers in order for linebackers to make the stop.
"It depends on what kind of defense we're running," Sopoaga said Tuesday. "If you're running a defense where we have to be in the gap, it's easy. If we run two-gap (the space between a guard and the center), it's harder because we're being double-teamed."
Sopoaga probably laughed at double-teams when he was in high school. In his last six games as a senior he said he scored seven touchdowns on offense and recorded eight sacks as a blitzing strong safety. Asked why with his size he didn't play on the line, he said, "Boring."
He's in the middle of it now.
Hey, Zach! In an oddity of training camp, four players on a roster of 85 are named Zac, Zach, Zach and Zak. There's tight end Zac Herold, tight end Zach Hilton, defensive end Zach Anderson and fullback Zak Keasey. No Zack thus far, however.
Having so many players with the same first name creates a situation of four guys running when a coach calls for one specifically.
"I've never been on a team in any sport in all my life with another Zach," said Hilton, the tallest player on the roster at 6-8. "It gets confusing. You hear the name called every couple minutes and usually it's not you."
Said Keasey, more identifiable by his blond dreadlocks than his first name, "That's a little strange. We'll be in special teams meetings and coaches will say, 'Zach, do this,' and we'll all look."
Smith, succinctly: On his outlook for Season 3 in the NFL, quarterback Alex Smith said, "I'd love to take it to the next level. Do the little things - being the big-time player in critical situations, when the game is on the line. Grow in that aspect, help the team win games."
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Sopoaga has a nose for the defensive line
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