Originally posted by Joecool:
Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by Joecool:
Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by Joecool:
Originally posted by paperplanemedia:
Originally posted by Joecool:
Yet the other team's QB threw 3 perfect passes to blanketed receivers.
Guess what Braylon did when it was thrown to him in the endzone? He attacked the ball at the highest point that he could get it. They also came off the line clean and got to their spot on time.
That ball was thrown where all Braylon had to do was put his arms up. It was perfectly placed. No contorting required. And the high pass to Rice where Brown had perfect underneath coverage. And the perfect pass to the TE down the right sideline that was blanketed.
Point is, all three routes were blanketed. How many did Alex throw to blanketed receivers? Why do you think he didn't? Because Crabtree won't put his arms up to try to catch it? That's not very believable.
Comparing what other team's receivers can do to what the 49ers did last night is apples/oranges, especially in the case of someone the size of Edwards. All of the Seattle secondary with the exception of Earl Thomas are much taller and stronger than the 49ers. Throwing up a jump ball to guys that are covered by a guy 2-6 inches taller than them is inviting disaster.
Crabtree has shown leaping ability but with the DBs consistently knocking him off his routes last night it is hard for him to gather himself to get up.
As someone already noted, we missed MM last night, but even with him in the lineup, the size match up will be telling. We just need speed and size in the WR corp that is not there now.
Go look at those throws. The receivers did not do too much to get their hands on the ball. The balls were perfectly placed. Alex would not have thrown those and we would have said our receivers weren't open.
Randy Moss is 6'4". Braylon had Willis who is 6 feet and another player blanketing him.
You still completely ignored the comment about the placement of those 3 throws. What's funnier is we had a healthy Braylon for a short while and nothing.
I am only talking about the receivers in this thread. I have made two points; one, we lack height and that was exposed last night. Two, we lack speed to keep safeties honest and that has been apparent for two years. Ginn getting healthy again MIGHT help but so far he has had no impact. Moss' height doesn't help when he is on the sidelines.
When Edwards was on the team last year he did make some plays but was hurt in the Dallas game and never played again.
Braylon didn't make plays in plural. He made one good one-hander and was not thrown to often.
Kyle Williams had a yard on a defender and the ball was thrown yards out of bounds.
Randy Moss is 6'4" and has speed.
Crabtree is showing more and more that he can attack and snag a ball.
Mario has the speed.
So, of our 4 receivers, they span across every aspect desired with Randy having all three of size, speed and catching ability.
Eventually, you will see where the issue is.
You keep wanting to make this all about the QB. I KNOW that Alex Smith is not Peyton Manning! I get that. However, I also recognize that the FO made major efforts to improve the explosiveness of the team, including drafting James and Jenkins and signing Moss and Manning. That tells me that both Harbaugh and Baalke realized that the "problem" was not all about Alex Smith. So we fast forward to this season and we see that those efforts were ineffective. James and Jenkins never see the field. We know all about Moss and we recognize that Manningham would have been the #4 receiver on the team that just kicked out butt last week. None of those things are about Alex. All of them point to the fact the FO and coaches realized we needed to get better at WR regardless of who played QB.
As to Moss having speed; it was widely recognized two years ago that he had lost a step. If he had suddenly gained that back and was once again Randy 2008, I am sure he would be on the field.
Crabtree is getting better but he still does not use his body to shield defenders of crossing routes, slants, curls and the like. When the pass is coming directly in to him, he still does not reach out for it much of the time. He waits for it to get closer and that gives the DB and chance to reach around and knock it down.
MM has somewhat above average speed but is not deep threat at all. That is one of the reasons NY kept Nicks and Cruz and even valued Hixon and Ramses (6'6") ahead of MM.
As to Williams, he is quick but lacks speed and size. Yes, he did beat a defender on one play where Seattle was late in covering but on the first deep ball where he was covered by Sherman, his lack of size was telling. In order to complete that ball, the pass would have had to come straight down due to the fact Sherman has a 5" height advantage plus his reach advantage.
To say it another way:
Moss had to agree to come here for free because no one else wanted him, or at least no one who had a decent chance to win anything this year. Little was expected and little has been achieved.
Williams was lucky to still have a job this year, although that is not the way Harbaugh spun it. He fits the role of a slot receiver when the team goes to 4 wide outs.
Manningham took the best shot he could to get on a team that had a chance to win and where he could play a bit. Other than for injuries, he would have seen little of the field in New York. In effect, we traded Morgan for Manningham. eh...
Crabtree has yet to play like a first round pick much less one that thought he should be a top 3. He still has lot of fundamental improvements to make. Right now he reminds me a lot of Dwight Clark, which is not all that bad but certainly no one that will scare anyone.
I am frankly surprised, and a bit frustrated, that so many are calling for Kaepernick, a very unpolished player to replace Smith but completely ignoring how much AJ Jenkins could help the WRs.
I'll just leave it like that...
