Is Battle really worth a roster spot at this point?

Originally posted by GoFD74:
Just a few observations:

~Regardless of what fans think/say, Battle is well respected in the locker room and amongst the coaching staff
~That said, EVERY player reaches a point where he becomes expendable to his current team
~For Battle that time is likely now
~There are a handful of younger, faster, cheaper and healthier players on the roster now who need the reps
~The earlier he's cut the better chance he has of catching on with a new team and hopefully prolonging his career
~Though I clearly see Battle as expendable right now, that doesn't mean I think he's a bum or worthy of scorn

Perfectly Said!!!!!!!!!!

No fighting crime for me tonight. It looks like you have everything under control.

Goodnight everyone

lol

JQ

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
As I've said for maybe the 3,000th time now (this will make it the 3,001st time, until a new anti-Battle thread starts in about....2 days), Battle was the leading receiver on this team in 2008 before his injury. And, he wasn't even the starter last season. NO!!!!!!!IT CAN'T BE TRUE!!!!!!!!THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time, don't bother bringing it up for the 3,002nd time because Battle only had ONE good game and did NOTHING in every other game. Also, he was only leading the team in number of receptions, not receiver production. Bruce led him in that category from week 2 on, and in week one our leading receivers were Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Bryant Johnson. Bruce took over from there and led Battle the rest of the year. Here is the week to week comparison with their receiving totals after each week. As you can see, Bruce was always ahead of Battle after week 2 and Battle wasn't even the team leader after week one.

WEEK Battle Bruce

Week Two: 60 - 153
Week Three: 82 - 172
Week Four: 202 - 226
Week Five: 211 - 275
Week Six: 250 - 303
Week Seven: 292 - 350
Week Eight: 318 - 399

So if you're just talking about the number of catches instead of yards, WHO CARES? Obviously his catches were not productive. So, don't bother bringing it up again because it's a very poor argument.

Guys like battle and Michael Robinson are role players that good teams know how to use...since we are not that great of a team we have no use for these players...if battle and mrob are cut and go to a good team like philly they would be like kevin faulk and wes welker

Originally posted by Lott49ersFan:

Originally posted by 49erRider:

Originally posted by Lott49ersFan:

Why? The thread is more than valid.

And it was also valid the last 5-10 times. No need to create a whole new thread for a subject that already has so many.

I must have missed it. So, there IS another thread talking about how BATTLE is expendable? I don't mean a different thread asking which receiver should be dumped and Battle is mentioned, I mean a thread specifically about Arnaz Battle being the one that should go. Link me, if you would.

Originally posted by toppdogg32:

Originally posted by Ceadderman:

Originally posted by Ninerbowl6:

Originally posted by Ceadderman:
Can we just say NO to the cut(insert player) here mentality?

It's mind numbingly tired to say the least.

COMPETITION is what makes a team better.

The list of players mentioned in THIS thread, have YET to show they warrant that respect. Morgan and Hill played fairly well when they got on the field last year but that could be nothing more than a fluke. Remember Stokes? Guy showed that he COULD do the job when Rice went down and after that wasn't nearly as solid as he was in '97.

You're asking for Stokes 2.0 with this attitude of cutting players because we have solid bodies ON PAPER.

Let them earn their spots just like each and every year Battle has EARNED his. I cannot believe that this even has to be said to a Football fan let alone a 9er fan. But yet here we are and people make stupid threads supporting an idea that is counter productive to Football and to this team.

Sheesus William Mary and Joseph people can be so damn myopic.

~Ceadder

Wow...I don't see why everyone is so emotional over this guy......but I hear you on him competing for a roster spot, I respect that argument. Who do you think gets cut? How many rec. do you think we keep? I don't think it's counter productive to discuss our possible roster moves...I mean for pete's sake it's the offseason.....lol.....what else are we going to discuss....

Man I think if Bruce retired Battle had a better chance to make the team but taking into consideration of: Potential, Age, Monetary investment.....it's not far fetch to believe the niners may part ways with him....I mean we are about to invest a lot of Money into Crabtree and it's not to sit on the bench.

I'm not saying that Battle won't get cut. Personally I think that with some of the room that will be made in Camp and Preseason, We will carry at least 7 Receivers this season. Partly also since Ike will more than likely retire at the end of the season and to give us some insurance in case of injury to players like Ike.

So it would not surprise me in the least if we carry 7 this season. I know that this doesn't make sense to people but given that we have not been that solid Offensively over the last 6 or 7 years, Offense should be the LAST unit to see cuts imho. And that is only if the player cannot make Special Teams. Battle is not that guy cause he does have it as far as ST goes.

Also there is no guarantee that all our drafts from this year make the team. There is a solid shot for them to do so, but as has been said Zeigler should be the odd man out. Been with the team 3 years and has not made an impact on the coaching staff to warrant keeping him around. He may just be our next Eddie McCaffery, but he hasn't shown it up to this point.

It's cool to speculate but asking for a guy to get cut because it's not envisioned that he'll have a shot to make the team? That's flat out preposterous.

Personally Battle is OUR Wes Welker. He does anything and everything asked of him. Now if the OC would use him properly he might just get a little more love from the 9er Faithful.

~Ceadder

Carrying 7 WR's, is not only silly, but is the type of thinking that got Nolan outta here...I cant keep saying this enough- you can only carry 5-6 WR's.. If you carry more-You get short in other areas and lose roster spots at other positions of need. And keeping 7 Wr's wont help our offense- fixing the OL will..

That's not what got Nolan out of San Francisco. What got him out of San Francisco is alot of impatient morons decided that he should have been 17-0 by year 3. When it was obvious that he was not going to be they were ready to scrap the whole thing and move on. Aparently you don't pay attention to the pulse of the fan base.

If you ain't undefeated or make an appearance in the Super Bowl, your job is not secure in San Francisco. I'm not advocating job security for anyone. I just think that Battle WILL get his spot. Whether it's as a ST'er or not is anyones guess, but that's how we get 7 WRs'.

There is always one or two spots on the ST unit for a WR that is not in the Offensive Depth chart. I just looked at the Offensive DC and Zeigler is on it, though there is no mention of Morgan. This is last seasons DC, by the way soI'm just going with what I see listed.

I like Battle and if he got cut today i would want him to catch on with another team. But NOT at the expense of our Offense. There is NOTHING like letting a guy go only to have his replacement fall flat on their face, their whole career with us.

Garrison Hearst was a beast when he played for us. But people considered him expendable. To a certain degree he was. But Donahue got rid of him and gave Barlow that contract which Barlow never earned while he was with us. I don't EVER want to see something like that happen again. There is no reason not to go with 7 this year.

I don't see ANYBODY, advocating that Bruce be cut. That guy only played ONE season for us. Nobody is wishing for him to retire. Why? Because he can help bring along the younger Receivers and because he's a Solid Vet Receiver. Well what to do once he DOES retire? Having Battle around even for one season more on the ST unit ala Ulbrich, relieves some of the pressure on Bruce. It also keeps him around for the future so we won't HAVE TO get another one so soon.

But hey what do I know, it's not like I've been watching this freak show every year since Rice left.

~Ceadder

Originally posted by IWantWinners:
So he can hopefully land with another team. We don't need this dude anymore!

We'll go into the season like this:

Bruce
Morgan
Crabtree
Jones
Hill

Oh how wrong you are... I absolutely guarantee that Battle not only maintains his position on this team - but also holds on to the #1 slot receiver position. Also, teams typically keep 6 receivers.

I really dont understand the desire of many of you to get rid of him every year, and every year, you end up dissappointed.

Originally posted by maximill15:

Originally posted by IWantWinners:
So he can hopefully land with another team. We don't need this dude anymore!

We'll go into the season like this:

Bruce
Morgan
Crabtree
Jones
Hill

Oh how wrong you are... I absolutely guarantee that Battle not only maintains his position on this team - but also holds on to the #1 slot receiver position. Also, teams typically keep 6 receivers.

I really dont understand the desire of many of you to get rid of him every year, and every year, you end up dissappointed.

Originally posted by GoFD74:
Just a few observations:

~Regardless of what fans think/say, Battle is well respected in the locker room and amongst the coaching staff
~That said, EVERY player reaches a point where he becomes expendable to his current team
~For Battle that time is likely now
~There are a handful of younger, faster, cheaper and healthier players on the roster now who need the reps
~The earlier he's cut the better chance he has of catching on with a new team and hopefully prolonging his career
~Though I clearly see Battle as expendable right now, that doesn't mean I think he's a bum or worthy of scorn

Battle has always earned my respect every season cause he has performed on a team with very little talent at the WR position. That being said I have to agree that this might be a tough season for him to make the team. I too would like to see him let go early enough to catch on with another team when and if the coaches decide it's that time. No friggin scorn here ------ I can see the handwriting on the wall too.

We'll keep 5 WR's and Battle and Zeigler won't be one of them.

At this point, yes. He's been a good player for us. Let's bring him in for training camp and possibly the early exhibitions and then decide. It would be silly to let him go now--except to give him a chance to get on another teams roster for his benefit.

Originally posted by bigmur49:
What does he provide? He has been hurt a lot, but keeping him on the roster keeps guys like Hill and Ziegler on the sideline. I am not saying either is going to be great, but at least they have some upside. Battle used to be the 3rd down sure hands guys, well I think Bruce takes care of that plus way more.

I like him, he has been one of the few bright spots on this team the few year but he gives us nothing really.

Last year with the first year he had any significant injuries in any NFL season. Prior to '08, he had appeared in 32 consecutive games. His ability and experience won't hamper any of the youth on the team. On the contrary, his leadership will provide the team with experience should a receiver go down with an injury.

Training camp will determine who is on the team. We will keep the players the coaches deem offer the best chance to help the team win. If Battle wins a position that is great. If not we will have an improved set of receivers.

Originally posted by ezrider:
We'll keep 5 WR's and Battle and Zeigler won't be one of them.

Anything could happen in training camp but I have to agree with you. If I had to predict, our 5 WRs will be Bruce, Morgan, Hill, Jones, Crabtree. I've always liked Battle but I believe the cards are stacked against him going into traning camp.

I've seen a lot of people say that we should keep Battle because he can block. I saw Sing comment on both Jones and Crabs ability and willingness to block downfield.

Originally posted by redrathman:

Originally posted by bigmur49:
What does he provide? He has been hurt a lot, but keeping him on the roster keeps guys like Hill and Ziegler on the sideline. I am not saying either is going to be great, but at least they have some upside. Battle used to be the 3rd down sure hands guys, well I think Bruce takes care of that plus way more.

I like him, he has been one of the few bright spots on this team the few year but he gives us nothing really.

Last year with the first year he had any significant injuries in any NFL season. Prior to '08, he had appeared in 32 consecutive games. His ability and experience won't hamper any of the youth on the team. On the contrary, his leadership will provide the team with experience should a receiver go down with an injury.

I am undecided. I respect his guts, commitment and ST abilities. But as the roster fleshes out, particularly at receiver, I am unconvinced. You say that his ability and experience will not hamper any of the youth on the team and this is, of course, true. But he will take a roster spot which could be used for a young and developing player. Zeigler springs to mind, possibly.

Here are a few stats:

In 6 years he has never started all 16 games. He has started 38 games out of a total of 96. His best figures for yardage/season was 686. His average per season is around 350. These figures have to be balanced, of course, by the fact that it took a couple of seasons to change his position. Even so .....

Fortunately, my opinion on the subject will have no impact on what actually happens

Time will tell. However, Battle is the kind of guy that is invaluable to a team. He has been an excellent punt returner until he became too valuable as the only reliable pass receiver on the team to risk injury on punt returns. He is also the best blocking WR on the team. He is a great team guy - highly respected and well-liked.

We will never know what kind of impact he might have had last year. We do know, or should realize, that he is the kind of receiver that makes any QB better. He is always where he needs to be at the time he is supposed to be there, and he holds onto the tough catches. That is invaluable to any QB just learning a system or just learning period.

No one here knows how he might stack up against the rest of the WR corp. However, if we are paying attention, we should know that he deserves a chance to make the team again and contribute. Most coaches say a player should never lose his spot due to injury, and they are correct to say that. In Battle's case, he has earned, and deserves a great deal more respect than he gets from some on this board.