To be or NOT to be - Crabtree

Crabtree needs to get his act together I think he wouldn't be a niner if it wasn't for McCloughan or Singletary. The niners gave him a massive contract which HE thought he deserved but clearly no one else did. Crabtree seems to be about himself and not the team, it goes beyond shyness why didn't he sign with the team immediately and now why is he missing team gatherings he needs to learn the playbook.

Last year with a lame offensive system he had trouble running routes how the hell does it get easier with the WCO? its about precision and thats one of his biggest knocks. I was excited when he fell to the 49ers but he seems to worry about his stats more than the success of the team and even then he's failing. All I'm gonna say is there is no way Harbaugh will baby him like Singletary did and Crabtree will have to prove his worth.

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by JayBee:

Originally posted by RichmondPete:
I think hes produced nicely considering Jimmy Raye was the mastermind of our offense and he has been catching passes from a ridiculously fluid combination of Shaun Hill/Alex Smith/Troy Smith over 2 seasons.

Lets let these guys get on the field under a competent coach before we start talking about trades.

Someone who knows WTF they're talking about.

How can you look at the system, OC and QB....and then compare Crabs to elite players who have pro bowl QB's, legendary OC's and great systems?

Simple, like this:

Did you know Crabs had a better rookie year than Calvin? So Crabs has 1 off year with a team in complete TURMOIL and now you want to get rid of him? Some of you are frigging children.

In addition, Calvin is an absolute freak, why even compare the two? Am I allowed to compare Alex to Manning or Brady then?

Can someone provide proof as to Crabtree's route running? I keep hearing he runs the wrong routes or is a poor route runner. Please provide proof of this instead of regurgitating the same bull. Lets get some youtube videos or something.

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by JayBee:

Originally posted by 49erFan:

Originally posted by JayBee:
So apparently we should have:

a) Traded Vernon after his 2nd season
b) Traded Anthony Davis after his 1st season
c) Traded Crabtree after his 2nd season
d) Let Dashon go after a bad year
e) Let Sing go after his 2nd year
f) Let Raye go after his 1st year




e) Give Alex Smith a 7th year to play like a competent QB.


I truly don't understand 9er fans.

The first e) as well as f) seem reasonable.

They do...What I was trying to highlight was fans seem to have little patience with anyone except (for some reason) the QB.

... because many fans know how to watch and assess blame appropriately.

Perhaps you should reflect on the likelihood that you do not have that ability and that this is the reason for your frequent confusions?

Complete trash response.

I have faith he will be at least better than most of the WRs the 49ers have trotted out there the last several years. Although that aint saying much I admit.

Originally posted by JayBee:
Can someone provide proof as to Crabtree's route running? I keep hearing he runs the wrong routes or is a poor route runner. Please provide proof of this instead of regurgitating the same bull. Lets get some youtube videos or something.

What, repeating the same things other people repeated that other people repeated on the Interent not proof enough for you?

Originally posted by RichmondPete:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by RichmondPete:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
He's average. His attitude and work ethic are much below that. I don't think he will ever be great.

You know nothing of greatness

What evidence makes you think he will be great?

I didn't say he WILL be great. You stated he is below average and will never be great. The guy has played 2 seasons with below average coaching, below average QB play and has still been our leading WO in those two seasons. What else do you expect to see out of a guy who is still a young player?

What I do see out of him is probably the most fluid athlete we have on offense with natural hands and very good open field moves. He needs seasoning, but I think we've all seen flashes of an above average WO.

I said "he's average." Not below average. Read it again...

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by RichmondPete:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
He's average. His attitude and work ethic are much below that. I don't think he will ever be great.

You know nothing of greatness

What evidence makes you think he will be great?

The same reason Alex Smith will magically turn into a pro bowler in year 7 and Jim Harbaugh is going 12-4 as a rookie head coach. It is called blind faith.

You sir are out of your goddamn mind

Originally posted by djfullshred:

Originally posted by JayBee:
Can someone provide proof as to Crabtree's route running? I keep hearing he runs the wrong routes or is a poor route runner. Please provide proof of this instead of regurgitating the same bull. Lets get some youtube videos or something.

What, repeating the same things other people repeated that other people repeated on the Interent not proof enough for you?

Yeah, Crabtree's poor route running was commented numerous times during broadcasts and in particular, by Brian Billick.

-9fA

Crabtree has talent that allowed him to dominate in college. He did reasonably well in his first year with the 9ers after a lengthy contract stalemate. His second year was a disappointment because he did not practice during camp and started slowly during the season. VD was unhappy with his attitude (odd but interesting).

That's what we know about the guy other than what we have seen on the field. What I have seen on the field is a guy not using his talent as he did in college. Is it because he can't beat NFL DBs? Or is he unwilling to put himself out because he doesn't believe in the QB? Or?

Those questions interest me and we will probably see some answers early in the next season. I think he can be very good but needs an attitude adjustment. Some believe he isn't good enough for the NFL. Some don't see a problem.

I want to see the Crabtree, who in college stole the ball from DBs right before the Int. Long arms, terrific timing, great body control. Here's to hope!

Originally posted by saj4423:

Originally posted by SybErkRimInAL:
he's definitely underachieved thus far. But why can't we give him the same excuses we've given Axle Smith for 6 years? He's had no QB, no decent coaching, etc... Harbaugh will expose the bums on this team. Would not be surprised to see Crabtree be one of them.

Agreed on the excuses part but at least Alex shows up.

It's nice to see Alex trying to be a leader, but if we keep Alex I'm sure Harbaugh will see he is a bum pretty soon.

After being so stoked about getting Crabtree 11th overall, everything has gone down hill from there. His whole lockout sit, and now he seem to be a Diva.

I hope Harbaugh turns his attitude around. Best case Scenario is if Alex manages to be a decent game manager, and we make a run at the playoffs. Give time for Kapernick to develop, and maybe be like Randall Cunningham

Who, right anyone not name vd getting the ball is messed up! He's covered normally by 3 guys and still gets 1 or 2 Td's a game!

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:

Originally posted by djfullshred:

Originally posted by JayBee:
Can someone provide proof as to Crabtree's route running? I keep hearing he runs the wrong routes or is a poor route runner. Please provide proof of this instead of regurgitating the same bull. Lets get some youtube videos or something.

What, repeating the same things other people repeated that other people repeated on the Interent not proof enough for you?

Yeah, Crabtree's poor route running was commented numerous times during broadcasts and in particular, by Brian Billick.

-9fA

First of all... 9fA is correct.....we've all pretty much read this article.

Secondly, I hate it when people demand proof and it's clear they just started reading Niner news two days ago....

Anyway here it is ....

During Crabtree’s one-catch-for-one-yard performance against Seattle in December, FOX analyst

****** Brian Billick said he ran imprecise routes. Asked later about Billick’s analysis, then-offensive coordinator Mike Johnson didn’t disagree.******

“Well that’s something that a lot of the young wide receivers have to go through, they have to go through a progression of understanding how to run routes the way true route runners run them,” Johnson said. “That’s not a knock against Crabtree, that’s just a fact of him being a young football player and still learning and developing, but I think he’s working hard at his craft.”

Crabtree isn’t alone. Besides the occasional outlier (see Moss, Randy), it often takes wide receivers — even the best ones — a few seasons to fully transition to the NFL (see White, Roddy). Consider that Crabtree has played 27 NFL games and has more catches (103) than Detroit’s Calvin Johnson (101), Green Bay’s Greg Jennings (98) and Miami’s Brandon Marshall (85) did at the same stage in their careers.

It remains to be seen if Crabtree joins the NFL’s elite. He certainly won’t make the breakthrough due to breakaway speed. But it’s worth remembering his route running and inconsistency aren’t unusual for a 23-year-old wide receiver. Below is a look at how Crabtree compares to the NFL’s top wide receivers at the 27-game stage in their careers:

Goes on to list WRs

http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011/03/inside-the-49ers/like-many-nfl-wrs-crabtree-could-catch-on-later/

The issue isn't whether or not Crabtree runs imprecise routes or at this stage of his NFL career hasn't fully yet realized his potential. The issue is HOW DOES ONE RUN BETTER ROUTES AND PERFORM? Well, let's take a guess, I don't know ... practice? Establishing a rapport/chemistry with your QB?

Let's compare to how other team's WRs are doing ....

"Last week, Tebow flew Broncos wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney and Britt Davis to Jacksonville, put them up in a nearby hotel, and then led a week of workouts in his hometown, [a league] source said," according to Schefter.

"Each of the Broncos receivers had hoped to come, the source said, but Eric Decker had another commitment, andDemaryius Thomas (torn Achilles) and Eddie Royal (strained hamstring) were unable to practice at this time due to lingering injuries."

Schefter adds that the receivers who showed up in Jacksonville "considered it such a success that the group plans to reconvene in another week or so in Arizona for two weeks of intensive workouts."

Llyod seemed to have pretty damn good rapport already with his QB but he's still working to get better .... why? Oh I don't know ...... well since you can only have workout sessions with coaches watching ...(what BS).

Tebow is their QB of the future. Alex is a frigging free agent. Is Fitz working out with Andersen or Skelton?

As far as route running...that article says nothing about it being bad. He's on par with his peers. Some were acting as if he had horrible route running and that is what hurt Alex. Bull!

So like I thought, you didn't actually SEE his "bad" route running for yourself, you're just going by someone else's opinion. Typical.

Originally posted by JayBee:

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by JayBee:

Originally posted by RichmondPete:
I think hes produced nicely considering Jimmy Raye was the mastermind of our offense and he has been catching passes from a ridiculously fluid combination of Shaun Hill/Alex Smith/Troy Smith over 2 seasons.

Lets let these guys get on the field under a competent coach before we start talking about trades.

Someone who knows WTF they're talking about.

How can you look at the system, OC and QB....and then compare Crabs to elite players who have pro bowl QB's, legendary OC's and great systems?

Simple, like this:

Did you know Crabs had a better rookie year than Calvin? So Crabs has 1 off year with a team in complete TURMOIL and now you want to get rid of him? Some of you are frigging children.

In addition, Calvin is an absolute freak, why even compare the two? Am I allowed to compare Alex to Manning or Brady then?

Lol, so many overactions on both sides... I never said get rid of Crabs. Dude was just asking for another example from a team that hasn't been all that great, I gave one.

IMO Crabs can be just as good as Calvin, but in different ways cause they are different types of receivers. Crabs is a TO-like YAC receiver, Calvin can do everything but he is built to be a more straight line stretch the field receiver, he doesn't have the change of direction Crabs has showed in college and the NFL.

I give one example that was asked for of a player who has still excelled for a bad team and it's "uncomparable". There are a few receivers with similar measurables, Andre Johnson, or just coming out like Julio Jones. The purpose wasn't to compare Crabs to Johnson but to show a player that excelled on a bad team. Crabs could be just as good as Johnson but in a YAC way to make up for the size difference, not a 6'4 4.3 forty way. Desean Jackson isn't big but he uses his talents to get the production in his own way... is that not comparable either?