OL Alex Boone (Official Thread)

[TheStoicPaisano]

Have you seen what he has accomplished with his physique since he stopped drinking? He has busted his ass to earn his way....

It was tongue-in-cheek...but yes, I'm very happy that Alex has kept his demons at bay and matured into a well-accomplished professional. Something we should all strive to do in parts of our lives.

 

[NFBuck]

Makes you wonder how much of his improvement was technique...

I think it's a lot more to do with conquering the demons that plagued him in Columbus than anything else. He was a "good to very-good" OL at Ohio State...he's playing at a whole different level now.

 

[3074326]

If he plays like this all season, he will be a Pro Bowler. One of the better guards I've seen this year.

 

[matt_thatsme]

Watching Alex on every play and he continues to impress. Have not seen him get beat yet. A pro bowl might not be too far off.

 

[Buckskin86]

49ers' Alex Boone to help on O-line
Eric Branch
Monday, October 15, 2012

For the next three days, Alex Boone's priorities will be a bit out of whack: Football will have to come before family.

With just three full days to prepare for Thursday night's game against the Seahawks, the 49ers offensive lineman's condensed study week is even more arduous given the uncertain status of left tackle Joe Staley.

Boone, 25, a starting right guard, slid over to left tackle in the third quarter of Sunday's 26-3 loss to the Giants after Staley sustained a concussion, his second in 10 months. Staley saw a neurologist Monday, and it's not certain whether he'll play Thursday. In the meantime, Boone is readying to play two different positions in advance of a meeting against one of the NFL's top defensive lines.

Is there enough time to prepare?

"There'd better be," Boone said. "I'll make time. If I have to go home and watch film with my (infant) son, I'll do it. It's a short week. I told my wife I'm not going to be around a lot this week, so don't expect me at home. I've got a lot to do."

cont..

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-Alex-Boone-to-help-on-O-line-3951333.php#ixzz29eRf1V5G

October 16, 2012
Right tackle only? Boone ready to prove "scribes and pundits" wrong

Right tackle only. That was the short story on Alex Boone (T, Ohio State) when he was coming out in the draft in 2009. The long analysis, according to one draft publication that year, went like this:

"Big, stiff, lumbering, long-armed mauler who can lock up defenders when he gets his hands on them. Is late to reach the second level. Struggles with speed. Does a good job of keeping extension. Plays too tall. Needs to play with better knee bend, flatten his back and come off with more power. Can be late to react to the blitz. Needs to do a better job of finishing blocks. Tends to get lazy the longer he plays. Has a throwback, tough-guy mentality. Thinks he's better than he is and comes off as arrogant. Would be more natural on the right side given his lack of foot quickness. Immature early in career; character needs to be evaluated."

With Joe Staley's (concussion) status in doubt, that big, stiff, lumbering mauler has a chance to prove those evaluators wrong this week.

"I think the scribes and pundits had it wrong about me," said Boone while borrowing a phrase from his head coach. "I don't think that I am a right tackle at all. ... I've been trying to tell people that for a long time. Nobody believes me. So they say, 'Hey, (he) can't play tackle, move him into guard.'"

The Giants and Cardinals probably believe him. Boone was an emergency fill in at left tackle last year in Arizona when Staley went down with a concussion. And he played a little more than a quarter at the position Sunday when the game was out of hand and the Giants defensive linemen could rush the quarterback with reckless abandon.

"There was a point in that game where I think everybody in the stadium knew there was a pass coming, which is always tough," center Jonathan Goodwin said. "But our job is to get them blocked regardless."

Boone did just that, matching up one-on-one with Osi Umenyiora and shutting him out. Umenyiora didn't have a sack or a hit in the last 20 drop backs by the San Francisco quarterbacks.

"It's like riding a bike," Boone said. "First play, I think anybody would have been shaky to see Osi Umenyiora out there. I've got a lot of respect for him. I know a lot of the guys in the league do. But after I took my first kick step, I was like here comes home. I'm back home. I'm doing what I used to do. I love it. Felt great out there."

cont...

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/49ers/archi...-scribes-and-pundits-wrong.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Buckskin86]

Alex Boone's remarkable journey
October 23, 2012

It felt like the end.

There was Alex Boone, sitting on the couch in his mother's house, on a quiet suburban Cleveland street. In the basement den were the plaques proclaiming him as the best high school football player in the football-crazy state of Ohio and a Parade All-American.

In a closet hung game-worn jerseys from his four seasons at Ohio State, where he was a two-time All-Big Ten selection.

Upstairs there was only stunned silence.

Boone, nearly 6-foot-8, all of 328 pounds, never felt smaller.

Boone had plenty of baggage that scared off NFL teams. He was cited for a DUI in the spring after his freshman season. Boone routinely downed "30 to 40 beers per day" as a freshman, according to an August 2006 article in the Dayton Daily News. And a well-documented drunken outburst just weeks prior to the draft appeared to make Boone persona non grata among NFL teams.

He followed along as NFL teams chose one player after another. And, finally, the draft came to a conclusion with a place-kicker being selected as the 256th and final player in the 2009 NFL draft.

"My oldest brother, Alex and I were sitting here kind of shell-shocked after the draft and no one had picked him up," said Boone's mother, Amy.

The 49ers had called earlier to inform Boone they were considering taking him with their final draft choice. Instead, at No. 244 overall, the 49ers selected defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois.

But the 49ers told Boone they were interested in signing him as an undrafted free agent. The 49ers awarded Boone a $10,000 signing bonus, a fraction of the money he would have received if based solely on his potential as an offensive lineman.

"So we were like, 'Oh, my God, what just happened?'" Amy Boone said.

That's when her brother, Keith Sulzer, a commander in the Cleveland Police Department, snapped everybody out of it.

"What are you crying about?" he said. "He's got a job!"

Instead of the end of everything he ever worked to achieve, Boone's draft-day disappointment served as a much-needed starting point.

cont...

http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-...remarkable-journey?blockID=792369&feedID=5936

 

[Wells4Heisman]

It always helps to kick the booze.

If he keeps up the fantastic effort and he's destined to be a probowler.

 

[armsbendback]

30-40 beers a day?!?

Even if they were miller lites that has to be hyperbole? I realize that he's got almost a foot and about 170 lbs on me, but that just seems unreal.

 

[lvbuckeye]

so nice to see him get his life together.

"In college he knew he could've been better, but he was still better than everybody else. That urgency wasn't there."

i was pretty hard on him at times because i could see that too. now he's focused, and he's becoming what we thought he could be: one of the best.

 

[Buckskin86]

49ers' Boone collides with ex-roommate
Eric Branch
Wednesday, November 7, 2012

On Wednesday, Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said 49ers right guard Alex Boone was an obnoxious slob with severe snoring issues.

When Laurinaitis' comments were relayed to Boone, he didn't hesitate. "Well, he's bald and ugly," he said, "so we're even."

So just how many times will these trash talkers need to be restrained when St. Louis visits Candlestick Park on Sunday?

The answer: zero.

Truth is, Laurinaitis and Boone, former teammates and roommates at Ohio State, might combine for as many hugs as hits during their NFC West showdown.

"I've always loved James like a brother," Boone said, a few moments before reiterating that Laurinaitis remains the "ugliest roommate I've ever had."

Similarly, when Laurinaitis was first asked about Boone during a conference call with the Bay Area media, he was genuinely delighted, "Good old Boonie," he began, before eventually detailing what a bad roommate Boonie was during their year of living too closely.

"Oh, man, that sophomore year," Laurinaitis said. He was "dirty. Loud. The guy could snore through four walls and you'd hear him. He's a big man. The whole sleep apnea - all that stuff you get with big human beings like Alex Boone. I was an advocate to have him get one of those things to put over his face so I couldn't hear his snoring anymore."

On Sunday, the close friends and good-natured antagonists will play primary roles when the 49ers' top-ranked rushing attack tests a defense featuring Laurinaitis, a three-time All-American at Ohio State who ranks fifth in the NFC in tackles (74).

While Laurinaitis, a second-round pick, has started every game of his four-year career, Boone has taken a meandering road to Sunday's meeting.

Boone was an All-American as a senior but went undrafted because of alcohol-related issues. He was arrested for DUI after his freshman season. Then he was arrested for public drunkenness in Southern California about a month before the 2009 NFL combine.

Less than four years later, the 300-pound Boone, who underwent treatment for alcohol abuse, has dropped at least 30 pounds while becoming a husband, father and NFL starter. He spent his rookie year on the practice squad and didn't start a game in 2010 or 2011, but he is now a key member of perhaps the NFL's best offensive line.

As Laurinaitis discussed Boone's journey, he took a timeout from the trash talk.

"I wasn't worried about his physical ability at all," Laurinaitis said. "I was hoping everything else would fall back into place for him. I know some of the stuff off the field that he went through in college and the stuff that's been documented. And to see him really get things right and to really go forward with that ...

"Just seeing how much he battled through. Talk about perseverance. He's a practice-squad guy that's worked his way up into their lineup. It's cool to see with guys that you don't know, but when you know somebody personally, it's awesome to see that."

On Sunday, the duo will see plenty of each other on the field for the first time in the NFL, thanks to Boone's emergence as a starter. Boone initially said it would be "weird" to play against his former teammate but later struck a different note.

They would, he said, do what comes naturally between buddies: insult each other. "It's going to go back and forth all day," Boone said. "I've got ammo for days on him, believe me. I'm going to throw everything out."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-Boone-collides-with-ex-roommate-4018349.php#ixzz2BdOwYq4B

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

Boone was just ranked as the #49 player in the NFL by PFF.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/11/07/pff-top-51/

Pretty impressive for someone who didn't start until this year.

 

[Buckeye86]

Boone was just ranked as the #49 player in the NFL by PFF.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/11/07/pff-top-51/

Pretty impressive for someone who didn't start until this year.

He had enough talent to simultaneously be a raging alcoholic and a decent (but never improved) four year starting left tackle at Ohio State.

Cut out the raging alcoholic part (which he has now apparently done) and he would clearly have been one of the top, if not the top offensive linemen in the country coming out of college.

 

[Mike80]

He had enough talent to simultaneously be a raging alcoholic and a decent (but never improved) four year starting left tackle at Ohio State.

Cut out the raging alcoholic part (which he has now apparently done) and he would clearly have been one of the top, if not the top offensive linemen in the country coming out of college.

Yep we are talking about a 6'9 330 lb individual that could Hurdle a 6 foot man after chasing that guy nearly 80 yards down a football field.

 

[MaxBuck]

Only former Buckeye on the list ...

 

[Buckskin86]

Alex Boone Continues to Impress
Taylor Price 49ers.com @TaylorPrice49
Goal Posts Blog

For a 6-foot-7 offensive guard, Alex Boone has impressed himself for how well the converted tackle has assimilated as the San Francisco 49ers starting right guard.

?I never thought I?d be a really be a good guard, at all,? Boone said on Thursday. ?To be honest with you, I?m too tall and I?m not built like a guard. But once you adapt to the game and understand your position, it becomes a little bit easier.?

It also helps when Boone has two position coaches working with daily at 49ers headquarters and a Pro Bowl lineman giving pointers from afar, making him a part of the NFL?s No. 2 ranked rushing attack (162.1 yards per game).

When Boone was approached about potentially sliding inside to compete for a starting role prior to training camp, the 49ers lineman sought out his personal line coach, former Pro Bowl lineman LeCharles Bentley.

The two have been inseparable the last few offseasons, and Bentley still doesn?t leave Boone alone. Each week, scouting reports on opponents, tips on his technique and other insights are sent directly to Boone?s email account.

Text messages are also exchanged between the two, including one from Bentley as Boone returned to his locker following Thursday morning walk-throughs.

?He?s very hard on me,? said Boone on the veteran who operates his own offensive line academy in Ohio. ?He?s a no-holds-barred type of guy. If he sees something he doesn?t like, he tells me.

?I think the reason I?ve been able to adapt to this position so well is because of him.?

cont..

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...-Impress/ff95fa1f-190c-4ce1-96cd-db999d6f0486