By Matt Duffy
Jan. 22, 2008

Patrick Willis

The season looked especially promising. San Francisco, fresh off an optimistic — compared to years past — 7-9 season in 2006, was primed to explode. But what started out as hope ended in despair. After starting the season 2-0, eight straight losses derailed everything. The season had taken an unexpected turn, and the pundits were turning up the heat big-time.

Thank God for Patrick Willis.

The 11th overall pick in the draft, Willis has been everything and more since Day One. He was magnificent in his rookie campaign, displaying the relentless motor and thunderous speed that made him so appealing on Draft Day and consequently nabbed him the Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers of America Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.

The 6-2, 241-pound Willis had the most productive season ever by a rookie linebacker. Willis made 174 tackles in ’07, which led the league. He also led the league in solo tackles, with 135. And he eclipsed the rookie mark for tackles of 155 set by last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year DeMeco Ryans, which was the most by a rookie in the past 20 years.

Pretty good numbers, considering he was learning on the fly.

Willis played in the middle at the University of Mississippi, where he was a three-year starter. But Ole Miss ran a traditional 4-3 defense, whereas the 49ers run a 3-4, which routinely leaves inside linebackers exposed to the opposing teams’ interior linemen. Willis had to get used to meeting blockers at the point of attack, instead of pursuing to the ball.

“At first it was frustrating,” Willis said. “But after I learned it, and coach (Niners assistant head coach/defense Mike Singletary) taught me how to play with leverage and taught me the technique of playing in the 3-4, and just playing football period, it really helped out a lot. I just needed the reps.”

Reps were something that the Niners had plenty of. After coming in to training camp, it didn’t take long for Willis to replace the incumbent Jeff Ulbrich and settle into a comfortable role alongside Derek Smith as the team’s other starting ILB.

In his first game, he notched 11 tackles, nine of which were solo in a win over the Cardinals. By the end of the season — he had two 18-tackle games and a 20-tackle performance in the final six games — he had made tackling an art form.

“My junior year (at Ole Miss) I broke my right hand,” Willis said. “So they had to put a cast on me. I had to go back to my fundamentals and remember to consistently wrap up. Even now, when I go to hit somebody, I try and keep that in my mind, not just to shoulder tackle, but to wrap. Just grab a hold of something.”

While they are impressive, none of the the aforementioned stats are what separates Willis from the pack. What really makes him special is his ability to elevate those around him and get the most out of his teammates.

It’s what made guys like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Brett Favre legends. For verification, turn to Niners head coach Mike Nolan.

“The thing that’s even better, as I knew with Ray Lewis when his game started to step up as well, is when the players around you get that much better, it all feeds right toward the middle linebacker,” Nolan said.

“And that’s what Patrick is.”

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Links to 2007 PFW/PFWA awards