Will Bruce Miller have a bigger role in the offense this season?

He is explosive as a receiver out of the backfield, I would like to see him get 20+ catches at least, his long TD reception against Washington was the deepest pass thrown to a FB by any team last season, I can't remember William Floyd, Marc Edwards , Tommy Vardell , Marc Logan or even Tom Rathman hauling in such a long bomb ......Bruce can build on his solid rookie season , do you guys feel he will have his # called more this season ?

20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

I think he will be more involved compared to last year. Depends on what they need to do from week to week against different defenses. He needs to run better with the ball. I don't remember they have him running a lot last year. I think because of this dude doing so well coming from the defensive side, they seem to get just about everyone on defense a try at offensive plays in the OTA . Justin Smith, Soap, who else am I missing... last I heard some dude on the defense was playing WR and another was throwing the football... Not sure I want to buy into that.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

20+ catches with us would be a bonus, we were always more dangerous when our FB was a threat to catch the ball ...

I'm not saying he has to be one of our top weapons, just included enough to be a threat to score when he is on the field and keep the defense honest

Originally posted by NeeJ49er:

Originally posted by SportsFan:
20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

20+ catches with us would be a bonus, we were always more dangerous when our FB was a threat to catch the ball ...

I'm not saying he has to be one of our top weapons, just included enough to be a threat to score when he is on the field and keep the defense honest

Yeah, it depends on how much traditional WCO we run...that used to be a staple of of the WCO so keep defenses honest. As it stands, when a FB is in the game = defend the run. But when you start passing to your FB, that softens up the defense and makes you less predictable. And then throw in the occasional, surprise deep ball to him and you've got a defense scratching their collective heads!

Originally posted by SportsFan:
20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

Rathman had 20+ catch seasons in all but two in his career. One of those seasons he only played in 8 games and still had 10. So I guess his rookie season would be the only one truly.

Had a high of 73 catches in '89!

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RathTo00.htm

I like the idea of using Miller more, but there is only one damn football man. I wouldn't expect his receptions to increase with the addtions we've made in the offseason. Having said that, look at the play against the Washington that he made running right by their LB for a TD. If Roman/Harbs catches the D sleeping on the FB, they aren't afraid to DIAL IT UP.

For the poster that asked if a FB "has ever" had that many receptions........

Tom Rathman had 73 in 1989. SEVENTY-THREE!

The issue about that is that these days LBs have gotten so fast. That generally elimates that idea as a "gameplan."

Wow no wonder why people are ok with mediocre offense....

They forgot what a good offense looks like or never saw one.

YES/

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:

Originally posted by SportsFan:
20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

Rathman had 20+ catch seasons in all but two in his career. One of those seasons he only played in 8 games and still had 10. So I guess his rookie season would be the only one truly.

Had a high of 73 catches in '89!

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RathTo00.htm

73 catches in a year for Rathman...damn. Did not know that.

Originally posted by GoldandGarnet:

The issue about that is that these days LBs have gotten so fast. That generally elimates that idea as a "gameplan."

Good observation.

No, we have too many other weapons.

Wow, Vardell?! haven't heard that name in a while!

I would actually not be surprised to see him get a decent amount LESS playing time. He played well last year and should only be better this year, but then again, for much of the year, Crabtree, Vernon, and Gore/Hunter were our only legit skill position players. So it was very justifiable for him to see the field as one of the two remaining skill position guys. This year with Manningham and Moss, those guys could eat into his snaps as we should run far more 2 and 3 WR sets next year.

If Moss pans out which we're obviously all hoping he does, then barring injury, I'd see the 300 snap distribution of the skill guys in a 60 snap ball game going something like this:

Vernon- 60
Crabtree- 50
Moss- 40
Manningham- 40
Delanie- 25
running backs- 65 (in other words, there should be a few plays a game where 2 of Gore/Hunter/LaMike are in the game)
Miller- 15
3rd TE- 5

Originally posted by SportsFan:

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:

Originally posted by SportsFan:
20 catches for Miller? Has any FB in league history ever come close to that?

Rathman had 20+ catch seasons in all but two in his career. One of those seasons he only played in 8 games and still had 10. So I guess his rookie season would be the only one truly.

Had a high of 73 catches in '89!

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RathTo00.htm

73 catches in a year for Rathman...damn. Did not know that.

Larry Centers, Keith Byars, Daryl Johnston, Tom Rathman just to name a few

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/ByarKe00.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CentLa00.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnDa00.htm