Rank our skill position on Offense

Originally posted by BayArea:
Why does everybody keep saying that Gore is on a decline when he just had one of his best if not best season ever?

LOL

Great posts everyone.

My big concern is Roman himself. With all these weapons, can he use them? Can he exploit weaknesses? Last year against the Giants, we only took 3 deep shots (2 for TD's) against a team who was CLEARLY crowding the box with 9, even 10 and run blitzing between the tackles. You could have destroyed the Giants with deep balls all game long, even with just VD & Williams and Crabtree underneath. Deep balls would force the S's out of the box and open up the run game. In addition, I thought ALL year we could have used Hunter in a Sproles-like role but rarely used him. Crabtree is best in the slot with two and even three other real threats in the passing game (see his entire career in the spread).

We have legit deep threats in Moss, Manningham and Jenkins and VD. We have not only Hunter but now James too. Ginn is still a burner and teams clearly respected his speed and his loss (deep threat) really hurt Crabtree in the Giants game. We have a mobile QB who can run very well. We have two bruisers in Gore/Jacobs. We have all these weapons and really, this will be the first year Roman and Alex have these...under the same playbook. So all looks up. Right?

Roman was a BIG part of us losing to the Giants. We played a vanilla offense last year that never really evolved or progressed. But now, with all these weapons, can he game-plan better, make adjustments at half-time, use all our weapons AND keep everyone happy?

Originally posted by NCommand:
Great posts everyone.

My big concern is Roman himself. With all these weapons, can he use them? Can he exploit weaknesses? Last year against the Giants, we only took 3 deep shots (2 for TD's) against a team who was CLEARLY crowding the box with 9, even 10 and run blitzing between the tackles. You could have destroyed the Giants with deep balls all game long, even with just VD & Williams and Crabtree underneath. Deep balls would force the S's out of the box and open up the run game. In addition, I thought ALL year we could have used Hunter in a Sproles-like role but rarely used him. Crabtree is best in the slot with two and even three other real threats in the passing game (see his entire career in the spread).

We have legit deep threats in Moss, Manningham and Jenkins and VD. We have not only Hunter but now James too. Ginn is still a burner and teams clearly respected his speed and his loss (deep threat) really hurt Crabtree in the Giants game. We have a mobile QB who can run very well. We have two bruisers in Gore/Jacobs. We have all these weapons and really, this will be the first year Roman and Alex have these...under the same playbook. So all looks up. Right?

Roman was a BIG part of us losing to the Giants. We played a vanilla offense last year that never really evolved or progressed. But now, with all these weapons, can he game-plan better, make adjustments at half-time, use all our weapons AND keep everyone happy?

Agree totally! I love Harbaugh and Roman but the game plan seemed really odd against NYG. They need to get away from the pounding into a brick wall and I hope that was only because of the limited TC.

I will believe he can use the weapons until he shows he can't. The benefit of the doubt due to TC, injuries, new offense, no WRs and sketchy line play.

Originally posted by aTx49er:
Are you serious?

Absolutely. I like to add less weight to his receiving stats than to his rushing stats. So yeah definitely one of his best. Having a system where he doesn't have to catch more passes than our receivers is a big reason for that.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Great posts everyone.

My big concern is Roman himself. With all these weapons, can he use them? Can he exploit weaknesses? Last year against the Giants, we only took 3 deep shots (2 for TD's) against a team who was CLEARLY crowding the box with 9, even 10 and run blitzing between the tackles. You could have destroyed the Giants with deep balls all game long, even with just VD & Williams and Crabtree underneath. Deep balls would force the S's out of the box and open up the run game. In addition, I thought ALL year we could have used Hunter in a Sproles-like role but rarely used him. Crabtree is best in the slot with two and even three other real threats in the passing game (see his entire career in the spread).

We have legit deep threats in Moss, Manningham and Jenkins and VD. We have not only Hunter but now James too. Ginn is still a burner and teams clearly respected his speed and his loss (deep threat) really hurt Crabtree in the Giants game. We have a mobile QB who can run very well. We have two bruisers in Gore/Jacobs. We have all these weapons and really, this will be the first year Roman and Alex have these...under the same playbook. So all looks up. Right?

Roman was a BIG part of us losing to the Giants. We played a vanilla offense last year that never really evolved or progressed. But now, with all these weapons, can he game-plan better, make adjustments at half-time, use all our weapons AND keep everyone happy?

Wether that was Harbaugh saying play it safe or Roman called the game on his own someone was at fault. I really hope they open it up this year. Not just down the field but use all our weapons... split James/Hunter out... use our speed, 2 RB systems... I'm assuming part of it was the short offseason last year but Roman has to step up. Side note... hard to believe anyone in the media or even our own fans have a problem with drafting Jenkins and James. Last year we really lacked playmakers.... it might be safe to say Vernon was the only one. So in the draft we get 2 of them... speed, explosion, guys who can take it to the house. Hopefully next year we load it up even more and catch up with the defense. Just looking at it...

Gore, Hunter, Dixon. Crabtree, Ginn, Kyle, Hastings, Swain

OR

Gore, Hunter, James, Jacobs... Crabtree, Manningham, Moss, Jenkins, Ginn, Kyle/Owusu

Hmmm... let me think

because he's pushing 30 dude

1) Vernon - Perhaps the most athletic TE the game has ever seen. Nearly impossible to cover. Needs to be schemed by the defense.
2) Gore - Still a top threat that defenses heavily focus on.
3) Randy Moss - X-factor that can do anything (or nothing) on the football field. The name alone still scares defenses, but if he doesn't see the football, he can become demoralized and "non-functional".
4) Michael Crabtree - Our top receiver who is looking to finally take part in a full training camp. Looking to put past injuries behind him.
5) LaMichael James - Another X-factor coming in as a rookie. Top instincts combined with top explosiveness. A supplement to the offense we can line up anywhere on the field. Will see a lot of playing time.
6) Delanie Walker - Living in Vernon's shadow, a weapon at TE who can stretch defenses and block DT's.
7) AJ Jenkins - Talented rookie will learn the ropes in spot duty early in the season. Could break out later on in the season.
8) Mario Manningham - Small, quick, elusive receiver who is good in space and can hurt you if you forget about him.
9) Kendall Hunter - Gore's backup. Good player, who can help Gore by sharing some of the load. IMO, he will have a much different role from LaMichael James.
10) Ted Ginn - Speed demon we design plays for. Mostly, he provides depth.

LOTS of talent on this offense now. Wow. When you really go through it one-by-one and look at what we have, I don't think there are enough footballs to go around.

There are some serious issues if we can't make this a top 16 offense at minimum. Whether it be play-calling, QBing, or O-line, it would be disgraceful to see this talent go to waste.

Here's my prediction for total yardage:

1. 875 yd (receiving) - Vernon
2. 850 yd Gore - 800 yd (rushing) 50 yd (receiving)
3. 825 yd (receiving) - Crabtree
4. 650 yd (receiving) - Manningham
5. 550 yd James - 400 yd (rushing) 150 yd (receiving)
6. 450 yd (receiving) - Moss
7. 300 yd (receiving)- Jenkins
- remaining -
500 yd (receiving)
400 yd (rushing)

Total Receiving: .3800 yd ... ~ (top 15)
Total Rushing: 1600 yd ... ~ (top 15)

That should be plenty of offense to get us back to the playoffs!

Championship!

Originally posted by DaDivaRecieva15:

Originally posted by BayArea:
Why does everybody keep saying that Gore is on a decline when he just had one of his best if not best season ever?

LOL

Wasn't this season like in his top 3 for rushing yards?

BTW: he just looks to be on the decline, he seemed at times to have less power, couldn't find the hole like barlow, and could not break away from anyone.

1) Davis


2) Moss - If "he wants to play."....


3) All others.

I suspect Jenkins and LaMichael will have an impact.

Originally posted by Gore_21:
Wether that was Harbaugh saying play it safe or Roman called the game on his own someone was at fault. I really hope they open it up this year. Not just down the field but use all our weapons... split James/Hunter out... use our speed, 2 RB systems... I'm assuming part of it was the short offseason last year but Roman has to step up. Side note... hard to believe anyone in the media or even our own fans have a problem with drafting Jenkins and James. Last year we really lacked playmakers.... it might be safe to say Vernon was the only one. So in the draft we get 2 of them... speed, explosion, guys who can take it to the house. Hopefully next year we load it up even more and catch up with the defense. Just looking at it...

Gore, Hunter, Dixon. Crabtree, Ginn, Kyle, Hastings, Swain

OR

Gore, Hunter, James, Jacobs... Crabtree, Manningham, Moss, Jenkins, Ginn, Kyle/Owusu

Hmmm... let me think

LOL...doesn't take too much thinking does it? Incredible upgrade...now, if they play like it we'll be really good.

The Real question is why does everybody think crabtree is gone next year or after his contract is up didn't he sign a 6 yr deal back in 09 he's going to be here for a while and I think he legit wants to be here, he doesn't seem like the type to fake it I'm sure if he wanted to be gone he would hold out or etc......

Originally posted by 228niner:
The Real question is why does everybody think crabtree is gone next year or after his contract is up didn't he sign a 6 yr deal back in 09 he's going to be here for a while and I think he legit wants to be here, he doesn't seem like the type to fake it I'm sure if he wanted to be gone he would hold out or etc......

Yeah I don't get that either, He's under contract for three more seasons and he's been at the voluntary 'football school" this week. Also, I really feel like Harbaugh likes the kid. He's not going anywhere IMO.

You know, this is the first time we have came close to having as many weapons on offense as the 94 team

Young , Rice, Taylor , McCaffrey , Jones , Watters, Floyd (94)

Davis , Gore , Crabtree , Moss , Maningham , James , Hunter, Walker ...we have the tools in place to develop a very lethal scoring machine, it all depends on Smith getting on the same page with the entire offense.

Originally posted by unst4bl3:
Wasn't this season like in his top 3 for rushing yards?

BTW: he just looks to be on the decline, he seemed at times to have less power, couldn't find the hole like barlow, and could not break away from anyone.

5 straight games with 125 yards and a touchdown. That doesn't happen very often. Also averaged over 5.5 yards per carry in the playoffs. I can't wait for Frank Gore to prove everyone wrong yet again next year