Do the 49ers need a High Priced WR to Win the Super Bowl?

You need a #1 receiver, regardless of how you go about it.

Whether its paying for it in free agency, or trying to hit on a draft pick and develop him in 3-4 years. You're not going to go anywhere in the playoffs. Nobody is going to respect your passing game, if the opposing CBs are just going to be able to smother you easily.

Using New England as an example is disingenuous and dishonest. You are talking about a coach, who does not believe in paying for players. They're probably going to let Trey Flowers go. But I thought edge rusher was extremely important???? It is, but the caveat is that Flowers might just be a system guy. Belichick can probably just find another 4th rounder and replace him. That's how good his draft & development is.

For every other coaching staff, we can't operate like that. #1 reason being, we do not have a Belichick. We can't just keep letting go of talent, and bringing new blood in to coach them up at a high level.

The reason people want to pay $20M for a receiver is because they want to circumvent the development process. Okay....let's say we draft a receiver this year. How confident are you going to be that a rookie draft pick is going to pick up Shanahan's complicated offensive system and be an impact starter for us in year 1? I would say, I have zero confidence.

For a veteran receiver like an AB or OBJ, I would say they'd be able to pick it up faster. But even Julio struggled in year 1 with the playbook. So even for a veteran, this system is not that friendly to newcomers. But at least with those guys, you could probably confidently say that they'd be ready to go in Year 2. For a rookie draft pick, it might take 3-4 years. In fact, I would say right now that I would not be surprised if Pettis struggles again this year again. He might be ready to go next year.

No.

/thread

Originally posted by Niners99:

No.

/thread

Double down on no. I don't think our HC thinks this way tho. We can improve on what we have (Marquise and injuries) but if JimmyG can't get a pass to:

Goodwin
Kittle
Brieda
Au Jus
Pettis
Jet
TT/other RB

Then we have a problem...which could very well be the lack of protection kyle had for JG last yr. It was abysmal. Start there. If the WR were Jerry Rice, then yes. Since we are talking about two head cases or at least potential head cases, no...even tho they are each very talented.

I think Gronk should count in regards to your point, he's the best ever at that position and equally as good (in his prime) as the best wide receivers in the game imo. I don't know if we need a 20 mil guy but I think we should add one more quality receiver.

Originally posted by Ensatsu:
You need a #1 receiver, regardless of how you go about it.

Whether its paying for it in free agency, or trying to hit on a draft pick and develop him in 3-4 years. You're not going to go anywhere in the playoffs. Nobody is going to respect your passing game, if the opposing CBs are just going to be able to smother you easily.

Using New England as an example is disingenuous and dishonest. You are talking about a coach, who does not believe in paying for players. They're probably going to let Trey Flowers go. But I thought edge rusher was extremely important???? It is, but the caveat is that Flowers might just be a system guy. Belichick can probably just find another 4th rounder and replace him. That's how good his draft & development is.

For every other coaching staff, we can't operate like that. #1 reason being, we do not have a Belichick. We can't just keep letting go of talent, and bringing new blood in to coach them up at a high level.

The reason people want to pay $20M for a receiver is because they want to circumvent the development process. Okay....let's say we draft a receiver this year. How confident are you going to be that a rookie draft pick is going to pick up Shanahan's complicated offensive system and be an impact starter for us in year 1? I would say, I have zero confidence.

For a veteran receiver like an AB or OBJ, I would say they'd be able to pick it up faster. But even Julio struggled in year 1 with the playbook. So even for a veteran, this system is not that friendly to newcomers. But at least with those guys, you could probably confidently say that they'd be ready to go in Year 2. For a rookie draft pick, it might take 3-4 years. In fact, I would say right now that I would not be surprised if Pettis struggles again this year again. He might be ready to go next year.

Fair points.

Without a doubt, our WR corp is extremely lacking. I think Goodwin will bounce back next season but he is not a true #1 and you may be right that Pettis is still a year away but we need to inject talent into that position.

Originally posted by T-9ers:
I think Gronk should count in regards to your point, he's the best ever at that position and equally as good (in his prime) as the best wide receivers in the game imo. I don't know if we need a 20 mil guy but I think we should add one more quality receiver.

And he makes less than $10M a year - hes a unicorn.

We need defense. A healthy amount of sacks and interceptions would do it.

No. Bosa is more valuable than any combination of Brown/OBJ and any other pass rusher in this class. We need 12+ sacks from our LEO to be SB worthy. Bosa is by far the best candidate to do that THIS YEAR. All his moves and strength apply directly to the NFL. His brother was an immediate impact player (once he signed his contract).

Bosa and whomever they can get with their 2nd pick, either in trade or at the #36 spot.

Nope. Shanahan has shown that he can scheme virtually anyone open. Its great if they can get a #1 WR but the priority has to be building up a defense that couldn't stop anyone.

Its clear that they are looking at WRs and will address the position at some point but edge rusher and free safety are all bigger needs overall.


Once the defense is solid and there are few holes on the roster, going all in on a stud receiver in the draft the way Atlanta did won't be an issue, but there's a bunch of other positions to address first.

Interceptions and turnovers would be nice.

You never know, even Antonio Brown wasnt picked in the first round so if we get lucky on our pick for WR in the later rounds that would be a plus for us. Hopefully Lynch can pull off this year with a WR in RDs 2 or later like he did with Pettis and Warner last year.

You don't need a car to get to places, but it certainly helps.

I brought this up a few days ago in the OBJ trade discussions and no...

You need good players but the big bucks should be spent at positions which cannot be replaced by scheme and rarely available in free agency or draft.

We all want a WR group of OBJ, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown...but paying those guys isn't easy.

Lions spent a fortune keeping Calvin Johnson. We all know how well that turned out for them.

And yes some of those guys make it much easier to scheme on offense and open up a lot for your QB but it's also a position that gets the game how many times per average? If a WR gets 10 receptions in a game that's huge. If you're paying that guy more than the majority of your roster that's not a good look and makes it hard cap wise.

If you look around the league the top 20 QBs for the most part are first rounders. Yes you have your clear outliers in Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and you can say Drew Brees but he'd actually be a 1st rounder these days(32nd pick).

For the top 20 pass rushers last year when i did the math I think like 5-6 were non 1st rounders and only Danielle Hunter was a non 1st/2nd round pick.

At WR...out of the top 20 pass catchers last year - 15 were non 1st round picks. That also included 7 guys who were drafted 3rd round or later.

The elite WRs are great to have but not a must have. You can still have great offenses if you have the elite QB, great coaching on offense and a solid group on offense.

Originally posted by DRCHOWDER:
You don't need a car to get to places, but he certainly helps.

Bad analogy.

This would be like buying a Ferrari to get to work vs a KIA.

Both get you to work. One is a lot more flashy a lot faster but is it worth the money if you're on a budget?