The Michael Crabtree Thread

Originally posted by WookieOftheYear:
Eric Branch ‏@Eric_Branch #49ers Michael Crabtree's totals in past 16 games: 88 catches, 1,053 yards, 5 TDs. http://bit.ly/UIgzAB

yards per catch is low and so are the td totals.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
He was a dominant player against Bills.

His excellent blocking get overlooked by commentators.

Some commentators have pointed out MCs blocking. Can't remember who, might have been Collinsworth. He is stepping up this year in a big way and I look forward to him becoming just one go-to guy out of many on this team. That way, if one guy is lost to FAcy it won't be the end of the world. So funny--the WR are so good this year a first round draft choice can't get on the field! That hasn't happened...ever! Right now, Moss is the fourth receiver behind Crabtree, Manningham and Williams. If Ginn can begin contributing they will really have perhaps the best receiving group in the NFL.

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
yards per catch is low and so are the td totals.

when will you be happy? His YPC is 12.6 in the NFL and he averaged 13.5 in college, in a weak conference that at the time TT was the dominant machine from hell.

That SINGLE yard difference is the result of NFL defenders being quicker, stronger, faster then the BIG12......

TD total being low isnt his fault when the offense was 60% running and in the red zone they leaned heavily on VD or Gore.

Originally posted by sfout:

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
yards per catch is low and so are the td totals.

when will you be happy? His YPC is 12.6 in the NFL and he averaged 13.5 in college, in a weak conference that at the time TT was the dominant machine from hell.

That SINGLE yard difference is the result of NFL defenders being quicker, stronger, faster then the BIG12......

TD total being low isnt his fault when the offense was 60% running and in the red zone they leaned heavily on VD or Gore.

Dont mind him, he is just trolling

Originally posted by WookieOftheYear:

Originally posted by sfout:

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
yards per catch is low and so are the td totals.

when will you be happy? His YPC is 12.6 in the NFL and he averaged 13.5 in college, in a weak conference that at the time TT was the dominant machine from hell.

That SINGLE yard difference is the result of NFL defenders being quicker, stronger, faster then the BIG12......

TD total being low isnt his fault when the offense was 60% running and in the red zone they leaned heavily on VD or Gore.

Dont mind him, he is just trolling

Actually not trolling just wanting more production from our number 1 wr. is that wrong ? If it is I apologize to everyone and just disregard my comment.

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
Actually not trolling just wanting more production from our number 1 wr. is that wrong ? If it is I apologize to everyone and just disregard my comment.

We have conservative passing attack therefore our #1 receiver is not going to put up extraordinary statistics. Vernon Davis is probably the best receiving TE in the NFL and he averages about 800 yards per year which in this day and age is just above average.

Originally posted by DirtyP:
We have conservative passing attack therefore our #1 receiver is not going to put up extraordinary statistics. Vernon Davis is probably the best receiving TE in the NFL and he averages about 800 yards per year which in this day and age is just above average.

Not just that it gets conservative at times.. but that we spread the ball around a lot and have a defense that keeps us from having to pass the ball 40-50 times a game.

My biggest knock on crabs was that he wasnt catching the football in clutch situations or moving the chains. I knew pretty much the second season that he wasnt going to have the big plays that he had in College, but i didnt want that from him anyways. I wanted a WR that came through when we needed him most to move the chains.

This year crabtree has been doing just that and he has impressed me. He is in the process of making me a fan.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
My biggest knock on crabs was that he wasnt catching the football in clutch situations or moving the chains. I knew pretty much the second season that he wasnt going to have the big plays that he had in College, but i didnt want that from him anyways. I wanted a WR that came through when we needed him most to move the chains.

This year crabtree has been doing just that and he has impressed me. He is in the process of making me a fan.

Agree--in the last game he really seemed to take it up a notch. He had several good runs after the catch. If he can keep this up I will be ecstatic.

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
Not just that it gets conservative at times.. but that we spread the ball around a lot and have a defense that keeps us from having to pass the ball 40-50 times a game.

Also true

He's really impressing me so far. I'm seeing YAC. I never saw that before from Crabtree... And I got to admit his claims about being faster may be true also. He just separates better this year and shows more speed. And he runs away from guys after the catch too. To add to all that he breaks tackles and uses that 215 - 220 lbs. He's physical this year. He just looks like a completely new guy. I still think he was picked a little high. But this year is the first year he actually makes sense to me.

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
Actually not trolling just wanting more production from our number 1 wr. is that wrong ? If it is I apologize to everyone and just disregard my comment.

there it is again, the myth that a #1 WR must be a deep threat and consequently a speedster.

Did you know that in 2011 Crabtree was 25% of our offensive output?

Larry Fitzgerald was 26% of the offensive output of the cardinals but they threw the ball 10% more then us.

Jordy Nelson was only 19% of the Packers output but they threw the ball 10% more then us.

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#1 WRs come in all forms and skill sets, what makes them is the offensive system they play in. Its rumored that Crabtree runs in the low 4.5, which would put him a smidgen slower then Jordy Nelson(4.51 with a 14.6 career YPC) and faster then Larry Fitzgerald(4.63 with a 13.8 career YPC). Crabtree can beat CBs deep, see GB game his rookie year, see STL game last season, and plenty of other games have evidence of him being able to go deep or get YAC.

But we play in a conservative offense that emphasizes ball control with shot plays, that last season threw the ball anywhere from 50-150 times less then the more prolific downfield attacks of the majority of the league. Right now we are on pace to actually throw 7 less attempts this season but the difference is that 1/3 of the way through the season and Alex is completing 8% more of his passes.

Anyway my point is that we are by nature a very different offense then the norm in the NFL but by percentages and proportions Crabtree is actually producing more so then some of the other "#1s".

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Another valid point.....

Hines Ward was still the steelers #1 WR in 2009 and his numbers throughout his career were very "Crabtree-like" and this year in particular...
95 receptions
136 targets
70% catch rate
1167 yards
12.6 YPC

Which is almost to the T what Crabtree would have in our system if he was targeted that many times.

2011 Crabtree
72 receptions
114 targets
72% catch rate
874 yards
12.1 YPC

Ward was however outproduced by a fellow WR Santonio Holmes who was used primarily as a deep threat and has that sort of skill set that differs from Ward/Crabtree

Holmes in 2009
79 receptions
138 targets
57% catch rate
1248 yards
15.8 YPC

compare that to Vernon Davis 2011
67 receptions
95 targets
70% catch rate
792 yards
11.8 YPC

We all know that Vernon is a real deep threat and this season he is averaging 15.2 YPC, very close to that of Holmes in 2009. The trick is pairing the #1 WR with a complimentary skill set.

In 2009 Ward had Holmes and it worked near perfectly. In SF Crabtree has Davis, yes Davis a TE and not a WR but its all about skill sets and pairing them wisely.

nice research.

Originally posted by communist:
nice research.

lol thanks. I've always been irked when people say they want Crabtree to produce more and its like just go look it up. Every offense is different but in our offense Crabtree does just as much as any other "#1" even if they have differing skill sets, which I feel is what people always overlook, everyone especially in todays pass happy offenses think that to be a #1 a player has to run a 4.3 40 or average 15+ YPC when that couldn't be further form the truth.

More then anything to be a #1 you need to have an incredibly high catch rate IMHO. I dont care if someone puts up 1500 yards in a system where they are thrown to 150 times but only catch 50 balls but run nothing but go-routes so their YPC is off the chain.

A true #1 is someone, who like Crabtree comes down the with the 75% of the time and gets you 40-50 first downs a year and averages 10-12 YPC+. Dependability is the name of the game if you want to be a #1, sometimes that means they hit home runs 50% of the time but again that all depends on the type of offense being run by the team and our #1 WR is not called upon to run 5-10 go-routes a game like Jordy Nelson, Calvin Johnson or many of the other WRs are.

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:
Actually not trolling just wanting more production from our number 1 wr. is that wrong ? If it is I apologize to everyone and just disregard my comment.

possession...receiver...