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Buckskin86
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Boone, Davis vie for 49ers' guard spot
Eric Branch
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Alex Boone attends practice at the 49ers facility in Santa Clara, Calif. on Thursday, June 14, 2012. Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle / SF
Alex Boone has never made an NFL start.
Leonard Davis has made 155 starts - 49 fewer than the 49ers' current five starting offensive linemen.
So how did Boone react when San Francisco signed Davis, 33, last week to compete with him for the starting spot at right guard? The personable 25-year-old did everything but grab a spiral notebook and ask Davis for the course syllabus.
On Wednesday, Boone said he hasn't hesitated to seek out his competition, a three-time Pro Bowler and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2001 draft, for tutorials.
"It would be foolish of me not to try to learn from him," Boone said. "...When you have a guy like that coming in here, you have to try to pick as much as you can from his brain. Understand what he's thinking, how he's thinking it and why. That's my biggest mind-set right now."
Boone's eagerness to enroll in Interior Line Blocking 101 is understandable. A lifelong tackle, he had never played guard, at any level, until the 49ers moved him inside this spring.
At 6-foot-8, the 315-pound Boone is taller than a typical guard and has been learning to stay low and get leverage on defensive linemen. He's also had to adjust to a more smash-mouth mentality inside.
Fortunately for Boone, he's found a willing professor in Davis. Their first discussion topic: Boone's hand placement during pass protection.
"He comes and asks and, for me, we're teammates," Davis said. "It's not like I've got something to hide. I'm not going to keep my little secrets over here. I've never done that."
cont...
http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Boone-Davis-vie-for-49ers-guard-spot-3755807.php
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-...tion-to-help-with-?blockID=749799&feedID=5936
http://www.cbssports.com/general/bl...-guard-alex-boone-learning-from-leonard-davis
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Buckskin86
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Five 49ers to watch: 5. Alex Boone
August 10, 2012
All the starters are back on defense. And most of the starters return on offense. The most notable exception is at right guard, where the 49ers will have a new face.
Alex Boone has never played right guard in his life. This will be his first opportunity to showcase his play against an unfamiliar opponent. It's going to be Boone's position to lose, as the team prepares for the regular-season opener Sept. 9 at the Green Bay Packers.
The 49ers can only hope Boone sees a lot of Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Boone could benefit greatly from going against Williams, a 10-year professional and six-time Pro Bowl player. But it's doubtful Williams will see much action. And Boone might not be on the field for more than a series or two, either.
The 49ers have placed a lot of trust in Boone's ability to adapt to guard. The organization made no attempt to re-sign Adam Snyder, who finished the season with a string of 15 consecutive starts, including both playoff games. They also did not offer a contract to Chilo Rachal, who began last season as the starter, struggled and was replaced by Snyder.
Instead, the 49ers determined that Boone would be a better option. Boone was the 49ers' swing tackle last season. He is learning how to play in tight spaces. He said the key to playing guard is to become a mauler.
So far, he has performed well in camp. But if he falters, veteran Leonard Davis has performed well enough to receive serious consideration for the job.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-...watch-5-Alex-Boone?blockID=754717&feedID=5936
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Buckskin86
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Alex Boone teaches us all how to face challenges
Posted on August 13, 2012
by Kevin Lynch
Alex Boone is looking like the stater at right guard
The 49ers outfitted the media tent, where interviews are conducted, with small school desks, which allow reporters to scribble down the comments of players and coaches. So when guard Alex Boone ducked into the tent Monday and looked out at all the reporters wedged into school chairs, he said, ?How?s class going??
Then through a line of questioning, Boone actually did present a teachable message ? find positives even in seemingly negative situations.
The six-foot, eight-inch Boone is far taller than a standard offensive guard, nevertheless he?s making the transition from backup tackle to starting right guard seem relatively easy. Boone played well in the exhibition opening night win against Minnesota, and it would be an upset at this point if Boone wasn?t the opening day starter on Sept. 9 in Green Bay.
The main concern with Boone was how he was going to bend his frame low enough to be effective against the bull rushes of bull-like defensive tackles. As Boone said, he always has to think, ?Sink, sink, sink.?
But Boone also said his length gives him an advantage.
?Defensive tackles are really not used to a long-armed guy,? Boone said. ?So in pass (protection) I get my arms on them right now. ? Not just throwing the same old stubby arms out there.?
Boone also could have taken the signing of veteran Leonard Davis as a sign that the team had little confidence in him to be the starter. Instead of worrying about his job, Boone decided to use the 11-year pro as a resource.
?I am a true NFL player, I know that nothing is given to you, you have to earn everything,? Boone said. ?I?m going to use this to my advantage and I have. I have asked him tons of questions, I?ve bugged the hell out of him. I think he?s a web of knowledge that should be drained. He has been there to help me every step of the way.?
Additionally, Boone trains and consults with fellow Ohio State alum and former NFL offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley in the offseason. This year, the pair watched film of former Pro Bowl guard Brian Watters, who helped interject a measure of craftiness into his trade. Watters tries to fool defensive linemen into thinking he?s doing one thing, when he?s actually doing another.
cont...
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2012/08/13/alex-boone-teaches-us-all-how-to-face-challenges/
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Buckskin86
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Alex Boone Transitions to Guard
Posted by Jacob Most on August 13, 2012
Training Camp is always a grind for NFL players. Long practices in the August sun, team meetings and the physicality of being a professional football player all take their toll.
Add switching positions to the rest of the challenges at an NFL camp and Alex Boone has a full plate going, a fact not lost on the 300-pound offensive lineman.
Boone has spent the 2012 offseason shifting to right guard after serving as the team?s backup tackle on both sides the past two seasons.
The move to the inside of the offensive line has been a challenge, but it presents Boone with the opportunity to start for the first time in his career.
The fourth-year player began preparing to transition to guard by watching NFL veterans on film like six-time Pro Bowler Brian Waters.
?I like watching old school guys who really kind of reinvented football and changed it up,? Boone said about Waters and other players he has modeled his game after. ?They didn?t do the classic one step and just go at it. They kind of used their craftiness against a guy. It is harder to do at my age because I am so young. I just want to be physical, but when you get to that age you can be crafty and be smart about things.?
Boone has sought advice on his position switch from teammates on both sides of the ball. Veteran guard acquisition Leonard Davis, a player Boone is competing with for playing time, has been giving his younger teammate tips throughout camp.
?When they brought him (Davis) in I was very happy,? Boone said about the three-time Pro Bowler. ?I am a true NFL player. I understand nothing in this league is given, you have to earn everything. To bring in a guy like that, I thought I would use this to my advantage and I have. I have asked him tons of questions. I probably bothered the hell out of him. I think that he is a web of knowledge that should be drained ? it has made it fun to compete.?
cont...
http://blog.49ers.com/2012/08/13/alex-boone-transitions-to-guard/
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2012...if-i-dont-get-low-enough-it-could-be-trouble/
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Buckskin86
Moderator
49ers' Boone has risen from the depths of alcohol abuse
By Matthew Barrows
[email protected]
Published: Friday, Aug. 17, 2012
SANTA CLARA ? The call came at 3 a.m. When the voice on the other end of the phone said he was with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Amy Boone assumed the worst.
"I said, 'My God, my son is dead.' "
"No, he's not dead," the man said. "Can't you hear him screaming in the background?"
The howling was coming from Alex Boone, who was still very much in the throes of the mother of all drunken rampages.
Neighbors in the town of Aliso Viejo, where Boone was training for the NFL scouting combine, called police to report that a loud, large, menacing man was swinging from a tow truck cable. Boone ran when deputies arrived, and the 6-foot-8, 300-pound-plus man had to be Tasered ? twice ? before being arrested. The sheriff's office later said Boone's blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit.
Boone woke up in a jail cell not remembering what had happened the previous night. As he sobered, and as he and his family learned the details, it began to occur to them that his latest alcohol-related lapse had dealt a serious ? perhaps fatal ? blow to his dream.
Playing in the NFL seemed to be Boone's destiny from the cradle.
"You know those soft-soled crib shoes that babies wear?" Amy Boone said. "They didn't make them in his size. His feet were too big."
In second grade, Alex was taller than his teacher. He had to have a special desk in fourth grade because his knees lifted the standard ones off the floor.
Best of all, he had a work ethic to go with his impressive size.
He grew up in Cleveland surrounded by a service-industry family. Amy, who raised Alex and his brother, J.J., by herself, is a nurse. His two doting uncles are a police officer and a teacher.
In this household, the nastiest, punch-to-the-gut insult would be to accuse someone of being lazy.
Tall and long-legged, Alex worked on his balance and agility. As a teenager, he was lifting weights alongside NFL players.
"He was literally the same size in high school he is now," remembers LeCharles Bentley, a former Saints and Browns center who also is from Cleveland. "It was like, 'Who the hell is this high school kid trying to compete with these full-grown men?' "
The work paid off.
Boone went to Ohio State, where he quickly won the starting job at left tackle and where he twice was named to the All-Big Ten Conference team. After his junior season, Boone was considered one of the top offensive tackles in the country.
But there was trouble on campus. He was arrested for DUI following his freshman season. Other incidents didn't make the newspapers.
"I can't tell you how many times I'd drive my butt down there (to Ohio State) and say, 'Hey, what are you doing?' " Amy Boone said.
Boone knew he had a problem. After each incident, he'd swear off alcohol forever and he'd attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He'd go months without a sip, and his family and coaches would think that he was finally sober.
Then he'd relapse. Hard.
cont..
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/17/4733711/fighting-to-play-sober-alex-boone.html#storylink=cpy
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Buckskin86
Moderator
49ers' Boone plays offseason colleague
Ron Kroichick
Updated Saturday, September 15, 2012
Alex Boone (75), blocking during camp, above, is playing a new position after earning a starting guard spot for the 49ers. He'll get a big test Sunday night in the form of Ndamukong Suh. Photo: Audrey Whitmeyer-Weathers, The Chronicle / SF
Alex Boone met Ndamukong Suh last year at a Nike football camp in Oregon. The camp was for high-school juniors who were promising college prospects, and Boone coached the offensive linemen while Suh counseled the defensive linemen.
Along the way, they talked and got to know each other a bit. To hear Boone tell it, he and Suh were friendly, pleasant, amiable.
Sunday night? Not so much.
Boone will make his second NFL start for the 49ers, at right guard, and he expects to see Suh across the line much of the night. That counts as a sizable chore, given Suh's status as a onetime All-Pro defensive tackle (in 2010, his rookie season) and his reputation as a ferocious, relentless man-child.
No. 90 for the Lions can present an imposing package, especially for a fresh-faced starter on the offensive line. Boone also is adapting to a new position - he played tackle at Ohio State and in a backup role last season - but he struck a reasonable tone Friday, offering praise for Suh without sounding intimidated.
"I think he's a good player," Boone said. "He's got a lot of size, good initial burst. I notice he's quick off the ball, and he's got a little rage to him. ... He's a fierce player, always playing to the whistle or the echo of the whistle.
"That's the kind of guy you want on your team. They're fun to play against, and at the same time it's going to be a challenge. I look forward to it."
cont...
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/kroich...offseason-colleague-3867206.php#ixzz26XWzXuQR
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matt_thatsme
Ain’t nobody got time for that
Boone with some big blocks tonight. His ability to transition to guard....impressive. There have been several plays where he has straight owned Suh, knocking Suh 5 yards off the line. Wow!
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matt_thatsme
Ain’t nobody got time for that
Finishing blocks and getting downfield to make blocks. Damn, looks like a completely different players than what he was his last year at OSU.
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3074326
Assistant to the Head Coach
matt_thatsme;2216115; said:
If he would've just progressed a little more he would've been a first rounder easily.. maybe top 15. Unbelievable that he went from that to undrafted. Great pickup for the Niners though, they needed linemen at the time, so they drafted a bunch in a couple years. It really gave Alex a good chance to progress with the rest of the team. Glad to see it.
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