Originally posted by Marvin49:
Ginn hardly saw the field last year because he was outplayed by Mario Manningham and Randy Moss. They don't play more than 2 WRs because they use so many multi TE formations. That's how they are built and it worked last year because they had 2 TEs who could stretch the field. Delanie Walker had the highest yards per catch on the team and of the 19 passes Kap threw in the air over 20 yards, 7 of them were to Walker.
Your assumption is that Harbaugh/Roman don't know how to create a passing offense and that's why Ginn didn't get on the field. Your entire premise is flawed. The passing O worked just fine when they used their multitalented TEs to stretch the field.
This why the loss of BOTH Crabtree and Walker has been so pivotal and why I'm not sure this issue can be resolved this season.
If anything, Roman can be blamed for not adapting to the lack of those players, but Ginn had his shot here and he failed.
Good take. That third deep threat is the difference between this year and last year's WRs. Just to add to what you said, with the team using 2TE personnel + a FB and power running formations, those WRs are lined up 1 on 1 when the 49ers are in these formations. That puts a premium on route running to gain separation. With 3+WR/spread formations, route combinations where WRs work together to free each other up are more of a possibility. Miller and Vance just aren't good route runners compared to putting more WRs on the field. However, doing so gets away from the identity of the team and the power run threat.
They did go with the spread look often versus NO and Kap did okay, completing lots of short stuff. I can't tell if more could have been had and really not sure what NO did in the 4th quarter that shut Kap and the passing attack down completely. The 1st and 4th quarters were horrible offensively.