2012 49ers WR Corps

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Keep in mind though, that Harbaugh has no Connection to Crabtree. I agree that i dont think Crabtree would be cut, because at the very least i think the club could get a 4th/5th out of him.

However i think the money factor is a non issue. Spencer's roll last year is evidence that the club doesnt care aout who gets paid what. The best players on the roster at the time will play.

Others have said that Manningham's contract reflects that the club thinks Crabtree iw a Better WR than him.....Which IMO is rediculous. If crabtree hit the open market today he wouldnt even sniff anything close to his rookie contract.

I don't think Crabtree is better then Manningham, but I dont believe the opposite either. I would have to see Manninham and the way he works on our specific offense before passing a judgement like that. I do think he will outplay Crabs, but I wouldnt guarentee it. I also agree with the free agency, Crabs at best would get a Manningham style contract, maybe a Morgan size contract depending on the team signing him.

Originally posted by LoneWolf:

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Keep in mind though, that Harbaugh has no Connection to Crabtree. I agree that i dont think Crabtree would be cut, because at the very least i think the club could get a 4th/5th out of him.

However i think the money factor is a non issue. Spencer's roll last year is evidence that the club doesnt care aout who gets paid what. The best players on the roster at the time will play.

Others have said that Manningham's contract reflects that the club thinks Crabtree iw a Better WR than him.....Which IMO is rediculous. If crabtree hit the open market today he wouldnt even sniff anything close to his rookie contract.

I don't think Crabtree is better then Manningham, but I dont believe the opposite either. I would have to see Manninham and the way he works on our specific offense before passing a judgement like that. I do think he will outplay Crabs, but I wouldnt guarentee it. I also agree with the free agency, Crabs at best would get a Manningham style contract, maybe a Morgan size contract depending on the team signing him.

I see Manningham as more of a short term Morgan replacement, with the potential to become a great #2 within our system. Moss is a stop gap for the large deep threat that i assume we will be drafting this year.

Williams is the only WR on the roster that really fits the slot roll for this offense. Crabtree is the odd man out. I agree that i probally wouldnt grade manningham much higher than crabtree, but i see more room for him within this offense with his style of play. Crabtree just doesnt fit for me, and i will admit i have been skeptical about him since his second season. I Like everyone else was happy with the pic, and very happy when he came in midseason and performed decently.

Since then he has been a huge disapointment for me, regardless of his minimal growth from season to season. He is simply not the WR most thought he would be based on his college performance.

Even Jerry Rice has said that Michael Crabtree isn't the WR he thought he would become:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2012/03/06/jerry-rice-speaks-on-peyton-manning-michael-crabtree-and-saints-bounties/

When you watched the 49ers in the playoffs, did you notice an absence at wide receiver?

"Yeah I did. Toward the end, if they had made one or two plays, they would have won. They just needed someone to do that. Also I noticed that, from the Niners back in the day, you don't go 1-of-13 on third-down conversions. You just don't do that. That was something we always worked on, and once we got to the red zone, we didn't just think about field goals, we thought about scoring touchdowns. I saw a little hesitation. I don't know if they just felt they didn't have the guys to get it done in the red zone or they just wanted to settle for field goals."

Are you watching on TV to see how Crabtree runs his routes?

"That was something I was always looking for, and I just did not see separation. A lot of times, as route runners, you're always going to see that separation when a quarterback has no hesitation (and) he knows where he wants to go with the ball. That's something I didn't see from the 49ers. Maybe that's part of the game he needs to work on, getting that separation. I was always one of those guys, even though you have receivers big and fast now, I felt I had to be at a certain weight to get my quickness. I don't know exactly what he weighs. He could lose maybe 10 or 15 pounds and be more explosive."

What did you play at?

"I played at 189 (pounds), 190, 200. I always wanted to change, and to be able to control that, there were sacrifices you had to make. When I was at 189 or 190, I felt I could run all day. My thing was about wearing an opponent out. By the fourth quarter, I was always at my best."

Could Crabtree be that explosive guy?

"Yeah but that'll be up to him to make that decision. You have to sacrifice yourself and put your team's best interest at heart. I don't really know the guy so I can't really comment on his work ethic. They feel there's potential there but it'll be up to him to say, 'I want to be the best receiver I have to be and I'm going to have to sacrifice some things."

You were with him in Dallas before the draft with Deion, but you never got to know him?

"I never did. Maybe because I voiced out and made a comment about Crabtree when he was holding out, and I said he needs to be in there sweating it out with his teammates and let everything else work out. I think ever since then he got offended."

But he's a quiet guy, too, so …

"He's a little bit different. I never come in between a man and his money. But I felt he needed to be in there with his team. I voiced that, and after that I could tell he would look at me in a certain way."

He's never played in an exhibition game.

"Would I be surprised that happened again this year? I wouldn't. Maybe he feels he doesn't need to play in the preseason. I looked at preseason as a time to gel with my quarterbacks and teammates, being out there on those hot days and going through it with those guys. I always tried to better myself in training camp and that threw me into the regular season ready to go. I'd have everything sharpened up."

if we go WR in the 3rd or 4th i will be happy

funny that you list them as crabtree, moss, manningham. Id reverse that order. I view manningham as our 1 until Moss shows hes still got it.

Originally posted by Niners99:
funny that you list them as crabtree, moss, manningham. Id reverse that order. I view manningham as our 1 until Moss shows hes still got it.

THE ORDER WAS RANDOMLY DONE! Not intended in any specific order.

Originally posted by PTulini:
THE ORDER WAS RANDOMLY DONE! Not intended in any specific order.

You can say that as many times as you want the zone will still believe thats you standing on there order in the depth chart lol

1. Michael Crabtree--needs to prove himself this year by making the tough, game winning catches, not fading (Smith is a big part of this)
2. Randy Moss--washed up? or will he prove to be an asset?
3. Mario Manningham--can he stay healthy and be in sync with Smith? Or will he miss Manning?
4. Kyle Williams--hated for his STs errors, can he continue to improve with time?
5. Ted Ginn--KR, not a WR unless in a pinch or for the fly.

Do not see a dominant, no questions asked, group of wideouts here. Needs more...1st or 2nd and a mid-level pick.

Originally posted by PTulini:
Even Jerry Rice has said that Michael Crabtree isn't the WR he thought he would become:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2012/03/06/jerry-rice-speaks-on-peyton-manning-michael-crabtree-and-saints-bounties/

When you watched the 49ers in the playoffs, did you notice an absence at wide receiver?

"Yeah I did. Toward the end, if they had made one or two plays, they would have won. They just needed someone to do that. Also I noticed that, from the Niners back in the day, you don't go 1-of-13 on third-down conversions. You just don't do that. That was something we always worked on, and once we got to the red zone, we didn't just think about field goals, we thought about scoring touchdowns. I saw a little hesitation. I don't know if they just felt they didn't have the guys to get it done in the red zone or they just wanted to settle for field goals."

Are you watching on TV to see how Crabtree runs his routes?

"That was something I was always looking for, and I just did not see separation. A lot of times, as route runners, you're always going to see that separation when a quarterback has no hesitation (and) he knows where he wants to go with the ball. That's something I didn't see from the 49ers. Maybe that's part of the game he needs to work on, getting that separation. I was always one of those guys, even though you have receivers big and fast now, I felt I had to be at a certain weight to get my quickness. I don't know exactly what he weighs. He could lose maybe 10 or 15 pounds and be more explosive."

What did you play at?

"I played at 189 (pounds), 190, 200. I always wanted to change, and to be able to control that, there were sacrifices you had to make. When I was at 189 or 190, I felt I could run all day. My thing was about wearing an opponent out. By the fourth quarter, I was always at my best."

Could Crabtree be that explosive guy?

"Yeah but that'll be up to him to make that decision. You have to sacrifice yourself and put your team's best interest at heart. I don't really know the guy so I can't really comment on his work ethic. They feel there's potential there but it'll be up to him to say, 'I want to be the best receiver I have to be and I'm going to have to sacrifice some things."

You were with him in Dallas before the draft with Deion, but you never got to know him?

"I never did. Maybe because I voiced out and made a comment about Crabtree when he was holding out, and I said he needs to be in there sweating it out with his teammates and let everything else work out. I think ever since then he got offended."

But he's a quiet guy, too, so …

"He's a little bit different. I never come in between a man and his money. But I felt he needed to be in there with his team. I voiced that, and after that I could tell he would look at me in a certain way."

He's never played in an exhibition game.

"Would I be surprised that happened again this year? I wouldn't. Maybe he feels he doesn't need to play in the preseason. I looked at preseason as a time to gel with my quarterbacks and teammates, being out there on those hot days and going through it with those guys. I always tried to better myself in training camp and that threw me into the regular season ready to go. I'd have everything sharpened up."

When Jerry Rice talk QB, I have my reservation. But when he talk WR, I'm pretty sure the dude knows something about that. He's skeptical about Crabtree's work ethic, who isn't these days. Vernon Davis found out like all the young guys with talent -- that you also need to put in the work to be successful and consistent in the NFL. They can be successful on talent alone in college, but in the NFL, everyone else is just as talent or even more than what you have. A higher level of competition. What separate you would be the further detailed work you put in. Hopefully Crabtree can come around to that realization.

We need to still take a WR in the first couple rounds (and maybe another one in later rounds in my opinion). This corps is better than last year if healthy, but I'd feel a lot better if we added another quality draft pick into that mix. Don't want to be scouring the league's unemployed WR's again at the end of next season!

I'm going laugh so hard when all the haters have to eat crow next season after Randy starts lighting it up! He's still the best receiver on this team and I can't get over the as far as overall skillset is concerned Crabtree is #1 and its not really that close. When has Crabtree ever shown a #1 WR skillset? As of now he has yet to show he could even be a competent #2 IMO.

Moss has this year and this year only to prove he can still play. He'll be out of the league after this if he can't get it together and he knows this. Having said that I believe he wants to play a couple more years and go out on a great note. Pretty sure we'll see an extremely motivated Randy Moss. One we haven't seen since New England. He will still be our most productive receiver next season outside of the TE position.

It's unfortunate, but I thought if we could have Crabtree, Morgan, Ginn, and Williams all playing through the whole year I think we could have a much better offense and would have beaten the Giants to the SB and winning it.

Originally posted by PTulini:
Current Depth Chart

1. Michael Crabtree
2. Randy Moss
3. Mario Manningham
4. Kyle Williams
5. Ted Ginn

Even with Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Mario Manningham, Ted Ginn Jr., and Kyle Williams... I'm still not satisfied with the 49ers WR depth! I'd add 2 more in the draft. I'm not banking on Randy Moss making the 49ers 53-man roster! And Ted Ginn is primarily a return man on special teams, NOTHING MORE.

Last year it was Crabtree, Edwards, Morgan, Williams, and Ginn. I believe we upgraded with Moss over Edwards. He will make the roster - he's the fastest receiver on our team and has the best hands, so yeah he'll make it. I believe Manningham for Morgan is a wash. We will upgrade Williams with a draft pick, we will add another WR for depth. I am frankly more concerned about our depth at OL and RB then at WR. We stayed pretty healthy at those positions last year - not likely to happen again. We need an every down back. We need a RG and depth.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
It's unfortunate, but I thought if we could have Crabtree, Morgan, Ginn, and Williams all playing through the whole year I think we could have a much better offense and would have beaten the Giants to the SB and winning it.

I agree since Morgan is in the mix. Ginn and Williams are throw aways. I'd take Williams as a 4 or 5 if he doesn't play much. Ginn, I wouldn't have touch the field as a WR.

If Trent doesn't draft a WR until late..say 5th or later what will be the consensus?