Originally posted by ajsjohnson:
Um.....what did Morgan (or any other receiver on the team with the possible exception of Crabtree) ever done to be guaranteed a starting spot? I like him, hope he is awesome, etc etc, but let's face it: he has never put up big numbers. That said, Ginn appears to be a fast guy who can't/won't catch a football, but if he suddenly loses the dropsies and his fear of contact why WOULDN'T we start him? Having a guy with his speed opposite the shifty, sure handed but NOT fast Crabtree would be ideal. Pairing Morgan with Crabtree isn't terrible, but it puts 2 similarly styled receivers out there at the same time. Now, maybe that is what we need with Alex at the helm at QB--guys with hands like stickem' that make up for his lack of accuracy (remember some of those catches by Crabtree last year? the one against AZ?? ALL him)...we shall see. I am rooting for a revival for Ginn and the continued developoment of Smith and all of our receivers so we can whoop some ass!!
Crabtree had 7 drops (1 drop for every 6.86 catches) in 11 games last year... 2 less than Ginn (1 drop for every 4.2 catches - OUCH!) had in 16. Dropped passes seriously have me concerned. VD had 11 (1 drop for every 7.1 catches) which was tied for the most drops in the league.
Alex Smith is gonna be playing under a huge microscope... and he is going to be looking for someone to make plays for him... er, I mean make CATCHES. I think whoever consistently shows the ability to catch the ball is going to quickly become his favorite target. There were a lot of drops out there last year.
Last year:
Morgan - 81 targets, 52 rec (
64.2%) 2 drops
Crabtree - 86 targets, 48 rec (55.8%) 7 drops
Ginn - 78 targets, 38 rec (48.7%) 9 drops
Davis - 129 targets, 78 rec (
60%) 11 drops
Hill - 17 targets 9 rec (52.9%) 0 drops
Bruce - 49 targets 21 rec (42.9%) 3 drops
Walker - 31 targets 19 rec (
61.2%) (didn't find drops stat)
Gore - didn't find target or drop stats for Gore.