Will Crabtree ever be this good?

Assuming Smith throws for +3,500yds +25td..

1. Vernon Davis 71rec 925yds 10td - After the post season Vernon had, its obvious Harbaugh and gang are drawing up more plays to Davis.
2. Michael Crabtree 82rec 905yds 7td - Crabtree will have his best season as a pro but will be hard to hit 1k with the talent on offense.
3. Frank Gore 52rec 401yds 2td - Smith will not hesitate to check the ball down if nothing is open downfield, Gore becomes relevant in the passing game again.
4. Randy Moss 47rec 609yds 4td - Moss will split time with the other receivers but will have his share of opportunities.
5. Mario Manningham 45rec 592yds 4td - Manningham excells in the slot in his first season with SF

Walker/Williams/Ginn/everyone else

Originally posted by 49ersnum1:
Assuming Smith throws for +3,500yds +25td..

1. Vernon Davis 71rec 925yds 10td - After the post season Vernon had, its obvious Harbaugh and gang are drawing up more plays to Davis.
2. Michael Crabtree 82rec 905yds 7td - Crabtree will have his best season as a pro but will be hard to hit 1k with the talent on offense.
3. Frank Gore 52rec 401yds 2td - Smith will not hesitate to check the ball down if nothing is open downfield, Gore becomes relevant in the passing game again.
4. Randy Moss 47rec 609yds 4td - Moss will split time with the other receivers but will have his share of opportunities.
5. Mario Manningham 45rec 592yds 4td - Manningham excells in the slot in his first season with SF

Walker/Williams/Ginn/everyone else

Dude Moss can score 4 td's in a game. I fully expect him to be our number one option in the red zone. 9 touchdowns minimum for Moss next year.

Originally posted by ElDannMann:
He's done nothing but get better and better every single season. People are just throwing him under the bus because he doesn't have 120 catches for 1600 yards and 15 TDs...

A WR's numbers benefit from high risk/reward offensive teams, not safe and efficient.

As long as our offensive philosophy remains "safe and efficient" we will never have a WR put up big numbers.

Originally posted by BrianGO:
A WR's numbers benefit from high risk/reward offensive teams, not safe and efficient.

As long as our offensive philosophy remains "safe and efficient" we will never have a WR put up big numbers.

That's a fair point, but it's worth remembering that by the last six weeks of the season we were airing it out with the best of them. Last year wasn't unique in that regard, either. Singletary became positively pass happy in the second half of 2010, so to say that Crabtree isn't getting his chances isn't entirely accurate. Sure, he'd be getting more looks on the Saints or Packers, but he isn't exactly being deprived by our play calling.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Im sick of hearing how he needs more weapons around him. He has had a top 5 receiving TE and a top 5 RB on the offense since he was drafted. What more does a supposed #1 WR need to succeed? A good WR doesnt need another WR of equal or better talent opposite of him to show his skills.

Crabtree has improved each year, including last year after foot surgery. Due to his draft position many think he should be an elite WR and I am actually surprised and disappointed myself that he is not. But that does not mean he is worthless or incapable of becoming a good receiver.

There were good reasons for Crabtree's struggles last year but if you want to think it is all his fault and that he is a bad guy, so be it. I look forward to watching him this year to see if he can regain his form from college or if his game just doesn't translate when the DBs are faster, bigger and stronger. My greatest concern regarding Crabtree, stated above, is his disappearance during crunch time. That does not speak well of his competitive spirit.

As far as a WR not needing another good WR opposite, I would say that is only marginally true. The niners were able to limit many teams best threat because they did not have a secondary threat to worry about. VD is a threat, but not when he spends most of his time blocking...as he admitted--he did not get the offense until midyear. Morgan out, Edwards doing little, the whole offense being put on training wheels due to the condensed camp...yet Crabtree was still the top receiver.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by walker807:

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by walker807:

Originally posted by Vasco49er:
Crabtree is very unappreciated by 49er fans. It almost seems like some people don't want to see him succeed. He is already a good WR and his best is yet to come.

A record long rookie holdout will do that. Not to mention that he has yet to take part in a training camp. When you start every season like that it makes it hard to succeed. Add it all up and you got a underperforming, underachieving, below average #1 WR. I really do wish he gets his act together because I do believe he can be very good WR, but in my mind I believe he is just collecting paychecks until he becomes a FA and signs with Dallas.

He has improved every year

That's somewhat debatable. I do agree that his receptions and yards have gone up each year. His Avg and TD's were down this year. For what its worth his 1st down percentage and YAC avg were also down this year. Watching him as a rookie and watching him this year, didn't see a big difference or major improvement in any single area and I attribute that directly to not working as hard as everyone else before each season.

Several items keep me from being critical:

1) injuries have kept him from participating in many practices--very bad for a young player's development.
2) Absence of a vertical threat, with Morgan and Edwards injured and Williams and Ginn not up to speed no one was able to take pressure off except for VD.
3) New offense that it took VD 1/2 a year to get, don't imagine Crabtree is putting in more time than VD, but he played fairly well last year after a shaky start.

Areas of concern are--even though he improved statistically last year he seemed to disappear at crunch time. Not in sync with Smith? Or afraid to make a mistake because he did not have the offense down? Whatever, he just wasn't able to take it to another level for the playoffs.

Next year he could be sharing the field with Moss, Manningham, Williams and a very good rookie. That will be a huge upgrade if all works out. Smith may feel like a kid at Christmas!

1. Agreed, I think he has a bit of injury sheelshock. What I mean by that is that I think he is afraid he is going to get hurt during practice and therefore doesn't practice as much or has missed many practices due to said injuries.
2. I don't really agree with this, teams are zeroing in on VD, not Crabs, and he is producing while facing double teams much more frequently than Crabs. Crabs is our #1 WR and defenses treat him like a #2 WR because they are not concerned with him making a major impact. Playoffs are a great example of this, VD was the obvious threat that defenses were watching for and he still made a major impact. Crabs did nothing while VD had the pressure and defense zoned in on him.
3. Agreed, VD blew up at the end of the year and will hopefully take that momentum into next season. Crabs finished the regular season strong but dissapeared entirely when we needed him most. If he partakes in TC then hopefully we will see a little more connection between him and Alex.

Originally posted by ElDannMann:
He's done nothing but get better and better every single season. People are just throwing him under the bus because he doesn't have 120 catches for 1600 yards and 15 TDs...

When you watched him as a rookie and watching him last season do you really see any improvement? If anything I think he dropped off a bit his second year and then returned to rookie form last season. I would like to know what areas people are seeing improvement in? Not saying hes crap or anything like that but I for one don't think he is any better today than he was as a rookie.

He looks bigger in college than he does in the nfl

13-3

Originally posted by BillWalsh:
Dude Moss can score 4 td's in a game. I fully expect him to be our number one option in the red zone. 9 touchdowns minimum for Moss next year.

Completely agree with you Mr. Walsh. Obviously Gore and Davis will be primary targets as well but I expect Randy to be the #1 option at wide out period. He's going to be more than a redzone target and I expect him to ball out this year.

As for Crabtree, I think he's an average to below average receiver at this level. I don't question his worth ethic, toughness or his attitude in the slightest. I just dont think he's very talented. While he has descent quickness he's still slow, struggles against man/press coverage, average hands, good blocker, he's just awkward in his routes and has terrible body control. Especially in the open field. I didn't care for him coming out of college and could care less if he's cut before I can hit the post this reply button.

Well you all know my views on Crabtree... Understandably Alex Smith has his limitations, but my biggest issue is Crabtree's attitude as a player. When you're a young player and you feel like you've done "enough", that's always a problem. I have never see Crabtree go above an beyond the norm in trying to establish a rapport with Smith. Even Braylon Edwards who had been with the team for a few weeks seemed to have a better rapport with Smith when he was healthy - and from news articles that came from practice outside of OTAs. Crabtree just doesn't come across as hungry to me. Hungry guys stay later. Hungry guys will get anyone to throw balls to him - even trainers. Hungry guys are perfectionists about their craft. There's nothing wrong with being a okay to good player, it's just not what this offense needs IMHO. We need leaders on offense - guys to set the tone and deliver in big situations. We all know what that takes. Rice was the example. Even Owens in his craziness was the consummate worker because he had a great role model in Rice. Until Crabtree understands that he can always get better, and getting better (route running, tough catches, etc) every day is something that's integral to his position on this team, then he will always be doubted, his play suspect and his work ethic questioned.

Originally posted by Joecool:
13-3

lol

Our WR corps for 2012 even without the obvious addition of a draftee looks pretty dangerous.

I fully expect Harbaugh and Roman to let Alex loose next season. They would not be upgrading the position with a guy like Moss if they wanted to remain as a run first, ground and pound type of team. Moss, if he wants to play, can be an absolute MONSTER; Manningham is a very versatile type of receiver, he can run the deep routes with good ability, has good hands, and can play the slot well.

You throw in Crabtree who has been improving each and every year in his career, and especially last year when he sort of became Alex's clutch WR to go to. Remember, we did not pass the ball very much last year. Being able to have 72 catches and almost 900 yards in just 14 games without preseason on a run first team is pretty damn good, IMHO.

And don't forget VERNON DAVIS. I can't understand why people don't consider him as a WR in our offense. VD is obviously the #1 option in this offense for 3 reasons:

1) Harbaugh likes to utilize tight ends in his offense. We saw that last year, especially in the playoffs.

2) Alex Smith prefers his tight ends as well. We've been seeing the Smith-to-Davis connection for 6 years now. It's a very lethal QB-Receiver connection.

3) Vernon is just that damn good player. We need to get him the ball as much as we can.

Vernon...Crabtree...Moss...Manningham...Gore...Hunter..

AND

OUR #1 DEFENSE.

Originally posted by iknoejohnyork:

Michael Crabtree has six fingers?

Originally posted by walker807:
When you watched him as a rookie and watching him last season do you really see any improvement? If anything I think he dropped off a bit his second year and then returned to rookie form last season. I would like to know what areas people are seeing improvement in? Not saying hes crap or anything like that but I for one don't think he is any better today than he was as a rookie.

Good question. I'd say blocking downfield. Catching he's actually regressed. Don't see much burst off the LOS or top-end speed. You could say he's improved in his versatility - think he's played a couple different positions.