How Important Was...(Delanie Walker)

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Hugely. I was one who didn't want to lose him and had concerns that McDonald was a different type of player and wouldn't be able to do what Walker did.

Walker was key in so many areas...run game, special teams, and he was a THREAT deep down the field. We all know he couldn't catch to save his life but he could get down there and caught enough passes that he had to be accounted for.

It was funny...I saw him drop another one yesterday that almost resulted in an INT and a Titan loss...but all I could see was how fast he got to that spot and how wide open he was.

Agreed. I feel Vance and Delanie are two completely different players. Walker is a bit of a freak, kind of like VD. Strong, fast and agile - not too much mass. Vance is mass, strong, but fast only in straight line speed. It seems like VD should take over for Delanie while Vance should step in as the inline TE for VD. This is my hope in the future as it can extend VD's effectiveness a couple more seasons since he's taken a beating over the years by blocking LBs and DEs like a beast. Moving VD to the Delanie's role, in the run game, would have him blocking DBs a bit more and DEs a bit less.

VD can get out in open space and is agile enough to block DBs as a lead blocker (remember that nice lead block Walker had on Ed Reed). I am doubtful that Vance has the physical ability (agility) to do that. After watching the IND game, it is apparent that Vance is not quite ready to be an inline blocker. He did not impress me in this area. Not too surprised since he was mainly blocking small DBs as a slot WR in college.

Anyway, Delanie is missed as he was that mismatch in coverage, and like you said, he had bad hands but not bad enough where opponents can ignore him. He got a fat contract from TEN though. There was no way 49ers could have retained him. I'd rather have Dorsey.

Originally posted by thl408:
Agreed. I feel Vance and Delanie are two completely different players. Walker is a bit of a freak, kind of like VD. Strong, fast and agile - not too much mass. Vance is mass, strong, but fast only in straight line speed. It seems like VD should take over for Delanie while Vance should step in as the inline TE for VD. This is my hope in the future as it can extend VD's effectiveness a couple more seasons since he's taken a beating over the years by blocking LBs and DEs like a beast. Moving VD to the Delanie's role, in the run game, would have him blocking DBs a bit more and DEs a bit less.

VD can get out in open space and is agile enough to block DBs as a lead blocker (remember that nice lead block Walker had on Ed Reed). I am doubtful that Vance has the physical ability (agility) to do that. After watching the IND game, it is apparent that Vance is not quite ready to be an inline blocker. He did not impress me in this area. Not too surprised since he was mainly blocking small DBs as a slot WR in college.

Anyway, Delanie is missed as he was that mismatch in coverage, and like you said, he had bad hands but not bad enough where opponents can ignore him. He got a fat contract from TEN though. There was no way 49ers could have retained him. I'd rather have Dorsey.

Not sure if serious. The guy is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240, that's pretty much all he was. McDonald would have to weigh like 290 to make it equal. As much as people love to overrate Walker and make up fairy tales about his legendary play, the fact is that he basically disappeared as an offensive weapon for large stretches of time, during the 2011 season, he had more games where he didn't catch a single pass than in games that he did. The guy had 8 touchdowns and 123 receptions in his entire time here with the 49ers, or an average of 1 touchdown and 17 catches a season. Overrated as all hell and I see that the tall tales are growing more and more. Yes, he made some nice plays in the playoffs, he also blew some gimme catches and disappeared in the red-zone the vast majority of time, his lack of height made it impossible to go over the top to him and teams were able to lock him down with a single safety.


I'm far more impressed with the potential of McDonald and his ability to play a more traditional TE role while still being an athletic super-freak and have the height and build to be very intimidating in the open field. I can't wait to see how the rest of this season and the future continues to go as he improves and becomes a vital part of this offense. He's got 3 receptions for 50 yards already so he's well on his way to equaling Walker's average production at minimum.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by thl408:
Agreed. I feel Vance and Delanie are two completely different players. Walker is a bit of a freak, kind of like VD. Strong, fast and agile - not too much mass. Vance is mass, strong, but fast only in straight line speed. It seems like VD should take over for Delanie while Vance should step in as the inline TE for VD. This is my hope in the future as it can extend VD's effectiveness a couple more seasons since he's taken a beating over the years by blocking LBs and DEs like a beast. Moving VD to the Delanie's role, in the run game, would have him blocking DBs a bit more and DEs a bit less.

VD can get out in open space and is agile enough to block DBs as a lead blocker (remember that nice lead block Walker had on Ed Reed). I am doubtful that Vance has the physical ability (agility) to do that. After watching the IND game, it is apparent that Vance is not quite ready to be an inline blocker. He did not impress me in this area. Not too surprised since he was mainly blocking small DBs as a slot WR in college.

Anyway, Delanie is missed as he was that mismatch in coverage, and like you said, he had bad hands but not bad enough where opponents can ignore him. He got a fat contract from TEN though. There was no way 49ers could have retained him. I'd rather have Dorsey.

Not sure if serious. The guy is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240, that's pretty much all he was. McDonald would have to weigh like 290 to make it equal. As much as people love to overrate Walker and make up fairy tales about his legendary play, the fact is that he basically disappeared as an offensive weapon for large stretches of time, during the 2011 season, he had more games where he didn't catch a single pass than in games that he did. The guy had 8 touchdowns and 123 receptions in his entire time here with the 49ers, or an average of 1 touchdown and 17 catches a season. Overrated as all hell and I see that the tall tales are growing more and more. Yes, he made some nice plays in the playoffs, he also blew some gimme catches and disappeared in the red-zone the vast majority of time, his lack of height made it impossible to go over the top to him and teams were able to lock him down with a single safety.


I'm far more impressed with the potential of McDonald and his ability to play a more traditional TE role while still being an athletic super-freak and have the height and build to be very intimidating in the open field. I can't wait to see how the rest of this season and the future continues to go as he improves and becomes a vital part of this offense. He's got 3 receptions for 50 yards already so he's well on his way to equaling Walker's average production at minimum.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by thl408:
Agreed. I feel Vance and Delanie are two completely different players. Walker is a bit of a freak, kind of like VD. Strong, fast and agile - not too much mass. Vance is mass, strong, but fast only in straight line speed. It seems like VD should take over for Delanie while Vance should step in as the inline TE for VD. This is my hope in the future as it can extend VD's effectiveness a couple more seasons since he's taken a beating over the years by blocking LBs and DEs like a beast. Moving VD to the Delanie's role, in the run game, would have him blocking DBs a bit more and DEs a bit less.

VD can get out in open space and is agile enough to block DBs as a lead blocker (remember that nice lead block Walker had on Ed Reed). I am doubtful that Vance has the physical ability (agility) to do that. After watching the IND game, it is apparent that Vance is not quite ready to be an inline blocker. He did not impress me in this area. Not too surprised since he was mainly blocking small DBs as a slot WR in college.

Anyway, Delanie is missed as he was that mismatch in coverage, and like you said, he had bad hands but not bad enough where opponents can ignore him. He got a fat contract from TEN though. There was no way 49ers could have retained him. I'd rather have Dorsey.

Not sure if serious. The guy is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240, that's pretty much all he was. McDonald would have to weigh like 290 to make it equal. As much as people love to overrate Walker and make up fairy tales about his legendary play, the fact is that he basically disappeared as an offensive weapon for large stretches of time, during the 2011 season, he had more games where he didn't catch a single pass than in games that he did. The guy had 8 touchdowns and 123 receptions in his entire time here with the 49ers, or an average of 1 touchdown and 17 catches a season. Overrated as all hell and I see that the tall tales are growing more and more. Yes, he made some nice plays in the playoffs, he also blew some gimme catches and disappeared in the red-zone the vast majority of time, his lack of height made it impossible to go over the top to him and teams were able to lock him down with a single safety.


I'm far more impressed with the potential of McDonald and his ability to play a more traditional TE role while still being an athletic super-freak and have the height and build to be very intimidating in the open field. I can't wait to see how the rest of this season and the future continues to go as he improves and becomes a vital part of this offense. He's got 3 receptions for 50 yards already so he's well on his way to equaling Walker's average production at minimum.

Ohh I underestimated his weight. He truly is freakishly athletic to be able to block DLs, lead block in open space, and be a special teams tackler. You mention his inconsistent offensive production at times and it's true, but he still posed matchup problems for the opponent and contributed in other phases of the game. Although he was never featured in a game plan, he was a bit of a go to guy in the 49er offense, if I recall correctly (DET game winner). I admit he never came through for the team though (Ram's game gimme TD). Personally, I don't think I'm overrating him. Don't know who did. I feel he's a good player that played a factor last season.

I, also, am more impressed with McDonald. Love how he runs with the ball. Vance definitely has the ability to be a traditional TE whereas Walker had the ability to be a prototypical Hback in this offense.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Not sure if serious. The guy is 6 feet tall and weighs about 240, that's pretty much all he was. McDonald would have to weigh like 290 to make it equal. As much as people love to overrate Walker and make up fairy tales about his legendary play, the fact is that he basically disappeared as an offensive weapon for large stretches of time, during the 2011 season, he had more games where he didn't catch a single pass than in games that he did. The guy had 8 touchdowns and 123 receptions in his entire time here with the 49ers, or an average of 1 touchdown and 17 catches a season. Overrated as all hell and I see that the tall tales are growing more and more. Yes, he made some nice plays in the playoffs, he also blew some gimme catches and disappeared in the red-zone the vast majority of time, his lack of height made it impossible to go over the top to him and teams were able to lock him down with a single safety.


I'm far more impressed with the potential of McDonald and his ability to play a more traditional TE role while still being an athletic super-freak and have the height and build to be very intimidating in the open field. I can't wait to see how the rest of this season and the future continues to go as he improves and becomes a vital part of this offense. He's got 3 receptions for 50 yards already so he's well on his way to equaling Walker's average production at minimum.

Agree with all of this. So glad we didn't pay him millions to stick around. Vance McD is going to be much better, and likely already is.

i miss my boy Kanye Walker

How is Delanie producing?

Is he giving then their money's worth?

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
How is Delanie producing?

Is he giving then their money's worth?

All I watched was that Titans last minute drive against the Chargers.. ball clanked off Walker's forearms and likely should have been INT'd... shocker, right?

Originally posted by DontSitOnTheHood:
Delanie Walker? Just curious to others' opinions. He did a WHOLE LOT for us, least of all catching the ball. But his ability to move and get open with a rare combo of speed, quickness and strength was uncanny... great blocker, too. A tone-setter. He made some big catches for us down the field throughout the year when we couldn't get any rhythm on offense. Kap happens to be a rhythm quarterback.

Not as important as Soap was to the DL.

Has anyone figured out why Delanie Walker is in parenthesis when we are clearly talking about Delanie Walker? Why wouldn't it just say How important was Delanie Walker?

PM me if anyone solves this mystery as it is clearly as important as if he is actually missed in the offense.

This was a freaking HUGE LOSS...HUGE

Originally posted by Rubberneck36:
Has anyone figured out why Delanie Walker is in parenthesis when we are clearly talking about Delanie Walker? Why wouldn't it just say How important was Delanie Walker?

PM me if anyone solves this mystery as it is clearly as important as if he is actually missed in the offense.

Parenthesis are required after Delanie had a broken jaw.

I think he was important to our running game. Put him in to block for the run game or go out for a pass. A bit of a dual threat that makes the defense think a little. But is he irreplaceable -- no.

Originally posted by DontSitOnTheHood:
Delanie Walker? Just curious to others' opinions. He did a WHOLE LOT for us, least of all catching the ball. But his ability to move and get open with a rare combo of speed, quickness and strength was uncanny... great blocker, too. A tone-setter. He made some big catches for us down the field throughout the year when we couldn't get any rhythm on offense. Kap happens to be a rhythm quarterback.

I'm glad you started a thread on this. This was the single biggest loss of the offseason. Imo, even more than Goldson if you factor in Reid. Walker was Kaps second favorite target and although he dropped a lot of passes, he also new how to get open and always seemed to be in the right spot. He was our X factor that teams couldn't account for. Losing him was huge.

Over rated and just a guy.

I bet once we get another WR opposite of Boldin you will see an improvement in McDonald.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

he was a huge part of our offense, ST and a matchup problem for defenses. IDK why so many people were happy to see him go.

Agreed. That was a much bigger loss to me than Goldson. I said that on the Seattle forums and they thought I was crazy.

A TE that usually required a CB to keep up with him. And he could put a mean block on anyone on the field.

Hands sucked doe