Losing Crabtree could be a blessing in disguise...

We can assume the 9ers offense won't be able to score without Crabtree, the sky is falling; or we can assume that JH and Roman will find ways to get the ball down the field with this group of talented players. Of course we don't know what will happen but assuming Crabtree is irreplaceable seems a bit...over reactive! For now anyway.

I'm looking forward to the young guys developing and becoming play-makers...one of the guys I would expect to step up is James out of the backfield. Perhaps they will use more three back sets with James going in motion.

Its like people have forgot who the 49ers are. We are not the Lions losing Calvin Johnson. Crabtree was not our entire offense. Don't get me wrong losing Crabtree definitely hurts. You have to kind of put things in perspective. We have a top 5 defense as well as a top 5 running game. Also, why all of a sudden is it impossible for a rookie to step in and play well. Not to mention my man Kyle Williams should be ready by game 1 right? He was really starting to come into his own before he went down and has already proven his resiliency after the disappointing NFCCG. I am comfortable with patching our passing game with Boldin and Williams while sticking to our identity, a legendary defense and monsterous running game.

You don't get better by not playing. The more they play w/ good coaching - the better they'll get. I saw real improvement from LMJ by the end of the season and I feel the same will happen to the rest of the young WR. In the beginning of the season. more running and ball control. As time goes on I think we'll see ore & more downfield plays. Add to that VD & McDonald in the mix and we're not as dependent on Crabs.

In addition to that, it will open up other opportunities for Roman to exploit. It's like combination punching in boxing - the punches come from everywhere and you can't defend it.

Sure, losing Crabs will have an impact. BUT, if you can't hit 'em w/ a left than hit 'em w/ a right. But hit 'em.

Getting our young guys on the filed and playing will accelerate their growth and by mid season they'll be the talk of the NFL.

Originally posted by Protoman:


I'm not trying to sound over-optimistic, but rather pragmatic. The sooner the issue is dealt with and addressed, the sooner IMO the team can move forward and progress.

You don't sound over-optimistic. I agree with all of what you said. There are a lot of options to counter the loss of Crabtree. Kaep getting the ball to multiple receivers is one of them. I just don't assume that will happen. We have a decent stable of guys out there right now! A healthy Manningham, Boldin and Vernon Davis is pretty formidable and that isn't even including Jenkins. I do wish that AJJ would have seen some decent snaps throughout the season last year. It would certainly help, but I trust Harbs to do what it takes to get those passing yards and putting Kaep in the best place for success.

Originally posted by Rathmanator:
You don't sound over-optimistic. I agree with all of what you said. There are a lot of options to counter the loss of Crabtree. Kaep getting the ball to multiple receivers is one of them. I just don't assume that will happen. We have a decent stable of guys out there right now! A healthy Manningham, Boldin and Vernon Davis is pretty formidable and that isn't even including Jenkins. I do wish that AJJ would have seen some decent snaps throughout the season last year. It would certainly help, but I trust Harbs to do what it takes to get those passing yards and putting Kaep in the best place for success.

Indeed. I figure if the coaching staff could make Josh Morgan, Ted Ginn Jr., and Braylon Edwards serviceable in the same season, anything's possible.

I'd say our WR corps is way stronger now even with Crabtree out than it was this time in 2011. I think that we've definitely got the "flying under the radar" advantage over Seattle for sure now, at least with respect to our WR corps.

Originally posted by bdub2588:
Football is a psychological game sometimes though. Look at the Ravens, they got Suggs back just in time tom plow through the PO/SB with a marginal record at hand.. With Lewis retiring, Suggs returning from a serious injury and having 4 playoff games as opposed to three, they sure turned those disadvantages into an ADVANTAGE I'd say.

Matt Barrows read my post and wrote an article; using my very words, talking about a "psychological advantage" regarding the Crabtree injury. Now do I get anyone's respect?
Should I get into journalism?

Originally posted by Protoman:
I think that we've definitely got the "flying under the radar" advantage over Seattle for sure now, at least with respect to our WR corps.

We're Super Bowl favorites, even without a fully developed receiving corps. I wouldn't say we're flying under anybody's radar this year. I'm just happy we don't need that advantage at this juncture.

People have forgotten that this team is built on the power run game and stout defense. I'm expecting 2011 but a more explosive offense. Defense should be just as good as that year and possibly better with the added depth on front 7

You always hate to lose your starter...especially since he really came into his own last season. But, that creates opportunities for Lockette, Jenkins & Patton. May the best man win...I have a feeling it'll be Lockette, but we'll see. At a minimum, it'll create more reps for those three.

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
You always hate to lose your starter...especially since he really came into his own last season. But, that creates opportunities for Lockette, Jenkins & Patton. May the best man win...I have a feeling it'll be Lockette, but we'll see. At a minimum, it'll create more reps for those three.

It creates opportunities for respective players at the same position. And IMO it creates the notion for the rest of the team that everybody needs to compensate for this fundamentally, critical loss..

Originally posted by PrisonOfGlass:
We're Super Bowl favorites, even without a fully developed receiving corps. I wouldn't say we're flying under anybody's radar this year. I'm just happy we don't need that advantage at this juncture.

Eh, I take what the speculators say with a grain of salt. We gotta get to the Super Bowl first before I start caring about how big of favorites we are in the offseason.

Originally posted by jvangeystel:
Its like people have forgot who the 49ers are. We are not the Lions losing Calvin Johnson. Crabtree was not our entire offense. Don't get me wrong losing Crabtree definitely hurts. You have to kind of put things in perspective. We have a top 5 defense as well as a top 5 running game. Also, why all of a sudden is it impossible for a rookie to step in and play well. Not to mention my man Kyle Williams should be ready by game 1 right? He was really starting to come into his own before he went down and has already proven his resiliency after the disappointing NFCCG. I am comfortable with patching our passing game with Boldin and Williams while sticking to our identity, a legendary defense and monsterous running game.

This. Well said.

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by jvangeystel:
Its like people have forgot who the 49ers are. We are not the Lions losing Calvin Johnson. Crabtree was not our entire offense. Don't get me wrong losing Crabtree definitely hurts. You have to kind of put things in perspective. We have a top 5 defense as well as a top 5 running game. Also, why all of a sudden is it impossible for a rookie to step in and play well. Not to mention my man Kyle Williams should be ready by game 1 right? He was really starting to come into his own before he went down and has already proven his resiliency after the disappointing NFCCG. I am comfortable with patching our passing game with Boldin and Williams while sticking to our identity, a legendary defense and monsterous running game.

This. Well said.

The problem is after Boldin, we have absolutely no one with substantial playing time other then the two guys who are still rehabbing brutal injuries....

Also, we lost another compotent of the offense in Walker who was also a guy who Kaep threw often too.

So as of now its looking like pitch and catch between Kaep and Boldin as far as QB to WR is concerned.

Even with Crabs , we are going to pound the ball HARD

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

losing ur best WR for a season is never a good thing. THIS IS PISS!

This