The signing of Brian Westbrook... LOVE IT or HATE IT?

I don't know how somebody could hate the signing.

I certainly don't hate the signing. However, I wonder with his injuries and concussions how much workload he will be able to handle.

IMO, the NFL itself just gives lip service to concussions and their effects in later years.

It's worth a shot here, if he gets hurt he gets hurt. This could be a great signing if he stays healthy. Great BACK UP!

Just adds another suitable weapon for Smith. They both will keep each other fresh during the season. With defenses knowing we're a run-first team they just won't know who to key in on. Both are excellent in catching balls out of the backfield and both can stretch the field.

Smith in the shotgun....crabtree, morgan, davis, gore, and westbrook will just stretch the field to open things up. You can run all kinds of different plays with just those 5 guys alone.

I like the Westbrook signing. I don't love it yet, but I like it.

yes westbrook has a little wear and tear. but glen coffee did us ahuge favor at the end of the day. westbrook is a PERFECT change of gears from frank gore. we are a young team with young talent at almost all positions. plenty of time to go after a young back or two next draft. LOVE IT!

He's a backup RB who knows his role and if Gore goes down, between him and Dixon, we have a good backup RB tandem.

Cant hate cuz there's nobody who would've offered better value. He wanted to be here, he's the only veteran offensive skill player with playoff experience and he was cheap.

you have to love it.

I would love it, if he wasn't 1 hit away from retirement. Please stay healthy Brian.

I think Singletary was right...he was very pleasantly surprised to see him still available. I think he can contribute veteran leadership, take some of the heat off Gore, and you know he can catch the ball exceptionally well. Plus, he's a winner...he's been to the dance. He can help Dixon, too. I really don't see a downside. Of course, he has an injury history but that was as a starting RB. As a part-timer, I think he can be a very good player for us.

if he has something left.........the price is right.......and we needed a little more behind Frank Gore................they may find ways to have both of them in the backfield at once too.

love it

Actually, the more I think about this signing, I'm reminded of when we first signed CB Walt Harris. Low risk, high reward. If I'm not mistaken Walt Harris was named to the Pro Bowl that season?

I think it's good to have a little depth. He comes with lots of exp and playoff exp at that.

On the other hand, this almost ensures that the Niners will again attempt to run the ball EVERY 1st and 2nd down. Only after being down by 21 points will they throw the ball.

On second thought, maybe this will help the offense for the better! Westbrook is not a between the tackles runner. His game is CATCHING the ball, or getting outside/off tackle. Raye would be an idiot if he doesn't use Westbrook in that spread formation they were using last season. Of course, if Raye waits till the Niners are down by 21, like last season, it won't matter anyway.

This offense could easily be TOP 10 in passing this season IMO. They have the pieces, Raye just needs to put them together. A QB that excels in shotgun/spread formations, maybe the best TE in the game, an up and coming WR that can catch almost anything, another WR that can stretch the field, another TE that causes match-up problems, and now 2 RBs that can pick up the blitz or catch out of the backfield.
Sooooooo................remind me why Sing and Raye are trying to make this a power running team?

[ Edited by AKfanster on Aug 17, 2010 at 21:34:59 ]

Originally posted by nvninerfan1:
I certainly don't hate the signing. However, I wonder with his injuries and concussions how much workload he will be able to handle.

IMO, the NFL itself just gives lip service to concussions and their effects in later years.

Everybody knows the game is risky. But they chose to play because they make millions per year at 20 something to 30 something ages. Most of us mortals make 40 - 75 thousand in the 20 - 30 something range. If you have an advanced degree maybe more and more experience is more. So maybe 100 - 150 thousand for some. But that's still tiny compared with millions per year. So you know the risks and decide to do it or not. That's how it works.

Originally posted by AKfanster:
I think it's good to have a little depth. He comes with lots of exp and playoff exp at that.

On the other hand, this almost ensures that the Niners will again attempt to run the ball EVERY 1st and 2nd down. Only after being down by 21 points will they throw the ball.

I respectfully disagree with you.