projecting players who fit niners offensive schemes

new draft mag from PFW is out and it does a real good job identifying teams schemes and philosphies and also stating what schemes a particular players fits in

offensively niners are a west coast offense with a man power blocking scheme

looking at the guards....

right guards who fit in a power man blocking scheme are david decastro
kevin zeitler
brandon brooks
andrew tiller
brandon washington
roskevious watkins
antoine mcclain
jaymes broos
derek dennis
rishaw johnson
ronald leary
jeremiah warren
johnnie troutman

they also list left guards who fit in a man power system (cordy glenn, amiri silatalo, joe looney, desmond wynn, josh lereibus) but since mike iupati is entrenched as niners left guards, the focus would seem more appropriate for the rt guards above

two centers were listed as man power blcking scheme fits, peter konz and phillip blake

as for another niners need, wide receiver, it occurs that one question niners may have to answer in taking a wr is what position is michael crabtree best at, the Z or flanker position, or the X or split end position...crabtree switched when morgan got hurt, iirc from the X (split end) to the Z (flanker)..though crabtree stalled in the playoffs, he showed great development during the season and I would think niners reciver pick will be one who complements what crabtree does well

Players who are Z flankers are .............................................................................................Players who are X split ends are

michael floyd .......................................................................................................................reuben randle
mo sanu ..............................................................................................................................brain quick
alshon jeffrey ........................................................................................................................aj jenkins
marvin mcnutt .......................................................................................................................tommy streeter
jeff fuller ................................................................................................................................dwight jones
nick toon ...............................................................................................................................stephen hill
jarrett boykin......................................................................................................................... patrick edwards*
jermaine kearse .....................................................................................................................travis benjamin
rishan matthews ....................................................................................................................devier posey
juron criner............................................................................................................................ chris owusu
chris givens ...........................................................................................................................kendall wright*
bj cunningham .......................................................................................................................kashief moore
junior hemingway ...................................................................................................................ryan broyles*
jordan white ...........................................................................................................................lance lewis
.............................................................................................................................................. lavon brazil
...............................................................................................................................................jarious wright*
................................................................................................................................................keshawn martin*
................................................................................................................................................ tj graham*

players projected as slot receivers included joe adams, eric page, ty hilton, devin wylie, marquis maze, jeremy ebert....the X split end receivers with an * next to their name also are capable slot receivers, indeed the PFW mag said kendall wright was the best slot receiver in the draft

the bigger receivers are generally Z flankers....crabtree isnt a big 6-3 220 receiver like alot of the Zs so maybe niners figure him better at the X slit end position and focus on a Z in the draft

Thanks for this! I've been looking for a good source.

Floyd fits us to a T , but the chance of him being there at 30 is very small. I also think that Hill, Randle, and Quick may be pretty good fits as well. Sanu's stuggles to gain separation concerns me. We already have Crabs, so we need someone who offers someting a little bit different than he does IMO.

I love Nick Toon in 2nd, he's big and always caught balls in traffic. Wisconsin keeps putting out quality pros every year for the past 5-7 years. He doesn't separate that well on film but that's why he's going to go in the second or early 3rd. I think about drafting a WR late in the 1st round and I keep thinking about Rashad Woods.
Hurts

so draftniks, where do you see the niners biggest need at the receiver position, Z (flanker), x (split end) or slot?

Excellent post.

I think RG is a huge need and must be filled. Snyder is a very good swing guy to fill in alll positions BUT he falls short on what we need. I like Brandon Brooks in the 3rd and Zeitler in the late 2nd. I prefer Zeitler as guys as big as Brooks seem to slow down too much as thier careers progress.

WR can be tougher to figure out. Like your Crabs analysis.

If we get a FA WR like Meechum, or Wallace then RG becomes more of a focus. Obviously, it depends who is available when we pick but 2 guys I really like are McNutt & Quick.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Excellent post.

I think RG is a huge need and must be filled. Snyder is a very good swing guy to fill in alll positions BUT he falls short on what we need. I like Brandon Brooks in the 3rd and Zeitler in the late 2nd. I prefer Zeitler as guys as big as Brooks seem to slow down too much as thier careers progress.

WR can be tougher to figure out. Like your Crabs analysis.

If we get a FA WR like Meechum, or Wallace then RG becomes more of a focus. Obviously, it depends who is available when we pick but 2 guys I really like are McNutt & Quick.

on the crabs question, say stephon hill (an X split end) and alshon jeffery (a Z flanker ) are both available at #30.....say the niners have both rated about the same...say they like crabtree better at the X split end position....

do they therefore take jeffery? How hard is it for a guy to switch from X to Z or vice versa? Crabtree did last year and I think he was actually better after the switch...in the scenario above if niners like hill better than jeffery do they take hill and try to make him a Z?

what do you say maddog OTC and other draftniks?

Crabtree is a Z. The Z in today's age is the guy who is going to be targeted the most, and is expected to do well after the catch(Crabtree's strength).

An X is where the athlete needs to go. Someone who can stretch the field vertically but probably not as good in the open field after the catch.

My personal favorite "X" targets are as follows:

Kendall Wright( Had a bad time,and still isn't Desean Jackson fast, but he can get vertical.)
Stephen Hill( Very very raw. Would take some years of development. Upside is enormous though.)
Tommy Streeter( Tallest receiver at combine, longest arms at the combine, and very good deep speed for his size)
Aj Jenkins( Not very big or physical but is a playmaker that was held back to awful QB play at Illinois)
Marvin Jones (doesn't have "wow" speed but is similar to B Lloyd with his outstanding body control in mid air. Still a vertical threat despite speed.)

So it's back to square one. Fleener, Konz and Hill fit the scheme

Originally posted by JimmyMcnulty:
Crabtree is a Z. The Z in today's age is the guy who is going to be targeted the most, and is expected to do well after the catch(Crabtree's strength).

An X is where the athlete needs to go. Someone who can stretch the field vertically but probably not as good in the open field after the catch.

My personal favorite "X" targets are as follows:

Kendall Wright( Had a bad time,and still isn't Desean Jackson fast, but he can get vertical.)
Stephen Hill( Very very raw. Would take some years of development. Upside is enormous though.)
Tommy Streeter( Tallest receiver at combine, longest arms at the combine, and very good deep speed for his size)
Aj Jenkins( Not very big or physical but is a playmaker that was held back to awful QB play at Illinois)
Marvin Jones (doesn't have "wow" speed but is similar to B Lloyd with his outstanding body control in mid air. Still a vertical threat despite speed.)

didnt crabtree start out as an X and only move to Z after morgan's injury? fact that he can play both helps niners

I don't think it is smart to draft a WR to compliment Crabtree. Draft the best WR who fits the scheme, that has the potential to be a true #1 WR.

We need a WR who can play all WR route trees at X, Y and Z. Right now, Crabs is the main Flanker and plays the slot too. Morgan played the Split-end position and slot. And Ginn mainly played slot along with Williams. Although, both also moved to other positions depending on the scheme utilized.

IMO, we need to be able to blow the top off the secondary so speed is essential here as well as excellent blocking since we employ such a strong run game. Running the routes precisely is also key in the WCO.

Who fits that bill?
Right now, I am going to say S. Hill. Yes, he's raw at WR because of the scheme employed at GT, yet he's and extraordinary blocker as a result. Also, he's very elusive and knows how to attack the ball with his soft hands. If we went with a WR in the first, my guess would be Hill or Randle.

However, there are more "value" players later in the draft like Owusu especially when, not if, we get that FA WR. I just see it coming. Therefore the split-end would be taken over by that player which could be Morgan for all we know. I expect us to go after Bowe AND Jackson if both are not franchised. Just too good of a pool of WRs to pair with Crabs instead of having a rookie's learning curve slow down his progress.

If that is the case, I can see us, like most of us do now, drafting Fleener. At #30, he makes soooo much sense after we pick up our new FA WR.

Hey, just sayin'...

BTW, nice post!

Looks like we have talked WRs, RGs, and Centers. How about TEs and RBs?