Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Originally posted by dj43:
Manningham is a decent #3 for a good passing team. However, with the seriousness of his injury, and occurring as late in the season as it has, the 49ers cannot afford to not draft a WR early on. Even if Jenkins does well next season, this team needs a BIG receiver to compete with the monster CBs in Seattle. (If you can't win your division, you are in trouble. Baalke needs to give some focus as to what it will take to beat Seattle at their place.
Why do people think you automatically need big wide receivers to go against big cornerbacks? I've seen this assumption made repeatedly and it yet has to make any sense. Wes Welker is hardly a "big" receiver yet he's one of the WR's who gave Seattle the most trouble this year. Generally speaking, a bigger defensive back won't be as fluid as smaller one, they don't turn their hips as well, you don't beat them by out-sizing them, you beat them through extreme quickness, guys who they will struggle to keep up with. One of the ways opposing teams will counter bigger WR's is with bigger cornerback's, when you have the opposite situation, you look for quickness, route-running skill and general ability to separate.
Browner I can tell you, in particular, is a cornerback that is vulnerable to shifty, faster wide receivers. You're better off taking him on with a 5'10" slot receiver that can explode off the line and quickly shift direction than a big tall wide receiver. Calvin Johnson killed it this year but struggled mightily against Seattle and ended up with 40 yards receiving for the game, even though Detroit won.
I will take Wes Welker to go against them. No problem...except he is not on our side.
Seattle has been very successful with their big guys just manhandling smaller receivers. Several coaches have allegedly complained to the league about illegal contact but the league has done nothing. Until that changes, the Seahawks will have an advantage in many cases.
We need some size at WR anyway. The 49er receivers are not very big in the overall comparison. Moss has good size but he will likely be gone next year. That will leave Crabtree as the "big" guy, and he isn't that big. Williams, Jenkins, Manningham are not big guys. We need a guy in the 6'4" range.