WR Situation is better than we all expected.

Crabtree isn't coming back this year, don't expect to see him. Even if he does return, he won't contribute much. Hunter needed 9 months to return from a partial achillies tear, and people think Crabtree will make it back in less time than that from a full tear? Doesn't look good. As much as I'd like to have Crabtree healthy, I think it will be better for Kaep to not have Crabtree to lean on. He will be a better quarterback because of that.

We definitely seem to have more weapons on offense this season than last season and things ar elooking better. If Crabs comes back on form and him and Kaep have the same connection they did, we'll be very difficult to stop.

Until his return we have a good core who can carry the load, the Vikings D was a good test as they are above average in the league, and the scoring drive from Kaep was good play. I really hope Crabs comes back in the same form as last year though as he was looking like a top 5 receiver easily, and while I have confidence in the group we have being better than last year, Crab takes us to the next level.

The other thing to remember is though this thread focuses on the WR group, we have Vernon at TE who is just a rediculous threat and Vance Mcdonald showed a glimpse of being something special in the game - that hurdle and then demolition was epic. We look like we might have an exceptional offense if everyone can click, and I have much higher hopes for the red zone with VD, Vance, Boldin, Baldwin and eventually Crabs. That's 2 big targets who can go up and get the ball in JB and Vance, then Boldin who'll go up and get it anyway and then Vernon and Crabs who you know can be relied on to get open or throw to in a one on one.

I'm not going to lie. I was pretty worried. We weren't really playing against a legit secondary but it was still encouraging to see the ball spread around so well.

I don't know how to put it, but it sure feels like ever since the Jenkins trade, things have been on the up and up.

I think it's better than we expected, but only because expectations were so low. Boldin will be the go-to guy and after that we have some solid options. Moore will be solid, Patton has a ton of potential as does Baldwin. I was never a fan of Kyle Williams as a PR/KR or WR. Manningham will need to get worked back in and I honestly don't expect anything from Crabtree this year because IF he comes back, it'll be very late in the year.

But I do think we have 3 above average WRs in Moore, Patton and Baldwin (if he keeps his head together) with Boldin topping it off. That's already better than last year.

I think that with a competent quarterback, receivers are largely overrated. Specifically, I think about the Giants and Eli Manning, who seem to be a wide receiver factory. I don't think they develop receivers well, I think Eli just makes them look good.

Originally posted by Rascal:
I don't know how to put it, but it sure feels like ever since the Jenkins trade, things have been on the up and up.

I do believe that Jenkins had an accumulative negative affect on the team. It seemed that most of the focus was on getting him NFL ready to the detriment of reps for the other receivers who might have also benifited from them. I think he might have even affected Colts development in the system. Seems most of his interceptions came when he targeted AJ. Perhaps the QB's were instructed to get the ball to Jenkins when ever possible. Seems Colts game also improved once AJ was gone. Negativity spreads. A J Jink'ins ?

do

Originally posted by OregonDuckNiner:

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by OregonDuckNiner:

Originally posted by 5280High:
Only the chicken littles thought the WR core was in bad shape, the reasonable fans trusted that Harbaalke knew what they were doing.

... ok well when you're missing your No. 1 and No. 3 heading into the season, it's not crazy to be somewhat concerned. I was concerned after Crabtree went down, but I'm a little more confident after tonight.

Concern is justifiable, what got out of hand was everyone saying we had the worst corps in the league and that Moore was a dud even though the coaches obviously thought enough of him to play with the starters all preseason.

And then Patton... well we all knew he would be a stud I said it multiple times, he will be 3rd in receptions on this team. He is the kind of player that will work his way onto the field no matter what.

I didn't see anyone saying "we had the worst" but I'll believe it. And can you fault anyone with Moore? Tonight was the first time anyone really saw anything from him. To say he is a dud is just being ignorant, but it's tough to feel confident about a No. 2 WR when none of us have seen anything from him before.

Regardless, Moore and Patton looked excellent tonight, and Patton is quickly turning into my favorite player on the team. Easily my fav pick of the previous draft.

And let's not forget about Davis

do you think the HC and others care what we think , they see them every day in practice and they assess who is going to be # 2 not you and me

Originally posted by theduke85:
I think that with a competent quarterback, receivers are largely overrated. Specifically, I think about the Giants and Eli Manning, who seem to be a wide receiver factory. I don't think they develop receivers well, I think Eli just makes them look good.

i agree with this for the most part

Originally posted by willtalk:

Originally posted by Rascal:
I don't know how to put it, but it sure feels like ever since the Jenkins trade, things have been on the up and up.

I do believe that Jenkins had an accumulative negative affect on the team. It seemed that most of the focus was on getting him NFL ready to the detriment of reps for the other receivers who might have also benifited from them. I think he might have even affected Colts development in the system. Seems most of his interceptions came when he targeted AJ. Perhaps the QB's were instructed to get the ball to Jenkins when ever possible. Seems Colts game also improved once AJ was gone. Negativity spreads. A J Jink'ins ?

That is a very good point. The share of reps was just so biased because of his issues. Plus there was just so much press on Jenkins about him being a bust and getting cut which must have been a huge distraction to the WR corps. Not to mention when noone expected him to get cut or traded because of his 1st round pick status which surely couldn't have done the morale amongst the WRs any good.

Definitely seemed like we were bending over backwards to give him every opportunity to succeed and make an impact. Now we can simply move forward with better players.

Originally posted by K1ngCoopa24:
Crabtree isn't coming back this year, don't expect to see him. Even if he does return, he won't contribute much. Hunter needed 9 months to return from a partial achillies tear, and people think Crabtree will make it back in less time than that from a full tear? Doesn't look good. As much as I'd like to have Crabtree healthy, I think it will be better for Kaep to not have Crabtree to lean on. He will be a better quarterback because of that.

I can definitely see Crabtree not returning as well, I think the franchise holding on for him to be able to play this year is more optimism, the science for repairing these body parts have improved, but it still takes a long time for those parts to heal completely, the science still has a ways to go if someone is to come back from an injury like this in less than a year. In the late 80s / early 90s, this type of injury was still ending careers, I think in looking at the overall picture, science has progressed considerably. I think there are still many ways to look at the glass as half full though, I think we can work on another WR or group of WRs to try to find some talents that can be developed, and from the preseason game against the Vikes, I would say it definitely does look better than expected. This group, I predict, will emerge as one of the better groups in the nfl. Who knows, if we find a couple of diamonds in the rough, we might have a better WR tandom in place before Crabtree comes back and regardless of what direction the 49ers go from that point, reincorporating Crabtree into the mix or trading him, it would be all good from that point. It's a time of opportunity, not depravity, which relates into Kaep developing into a better QB also. I so dig that notion.

Boldin
Patton
Moore
Williams
Baldwin


I think these 5 cats will get the Job done until Mario and Michael get back into the swing of things

I think we're in good shape. Kaepernick is good enough at extending the play that the quicker WRs will eventually gain separation. The most important trait a WR can have is reliable hands and this bunch is hanging on to the ball, even in traffic. That's promising. Easy drops kill an offense. Delanie was notorious for it, as was Ginn.

I'm not convinced that Baldwin will ever be a reliable receiver, but he's already looking a lot better than AJ. Im pleased that the organization admitted their mistake and moved on from AJ. I love the Patton pick. The guy I'm secretly rooting for is Collie. He's a talented guy who appears to have the injury concerns behind him. He's only going to get better.

Overall, I think we're much better this year than last. Boldin will cover the Crabtree void. Manningham and Williams are an upgrade over Ginn and Moss. Moore and Patton are a huge plus. Ginn got a lot of snaps last year and he'd be near the bottom o this group.

I have a feeling that Williams might be traded or cut, most likely cut since he's returning from an injury. All depends on how, and if, he plays in the San Diego game. Wouldn't be surprised if he's cut today.