crabs torn Achilles no!

[deep9er]

Agreed on the Justin Smith injury...

However, that has been one of the few drop-offs. In 2011 Willis was injured and missed 3 games because of it. Larry Grant did a great job filling in for Willis, and Bowman picked up his game as well. I also think the coaching staff does a good job pre-game planning to cover up and disguise some of our injuries. Unfortunately they haven't been as good with in-game adjustments when injuries have occured...

But all and all, I don't think we have been as healthy as some people might think...

yes, not to say we haven't had injuries, of course we've had injuries previous two years. but if we look at it relative to other NFL teams, as these stats are doing, its been great. ranking 8th and then 1st out of 32 teams, pretty tough to beat.

 

[Vitamike]

yes, not to say we haven't had injuries, of course we've had injuries previous two years. but if we look at it relative to other NFL teams, as these stats are doing, its been great. ranking 8th and then 1st out of 32 teams, pretty tough to beat.

Exactly!

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Bemular]

I love his answer to the woman asking him to describe the things he did with Crabtree in the off-season: "We're here to talk football."

Kap is a wizard/genius on how he manages his interviews - Most pro athletes could take a lesson.

 

[maniax]

I would be all up for signing Henderson.

We need another vet. We cannot count on Crabs, Manningham or Williams at this point.

 

[deep9er]

I would be all up for signing Henderson.

We need another vet. We cannot count on Crabs, Manningham or Williams at this point.

fine, but at what cost? don't think we want to commit too much guarantee money just yet? once you do, Henderson will remain on the 53 all season.

 

[I_am_1z]

Whatever happened to Mike Sims-Walker? I remember there was a lot of fantasy hype behind him (never liked him as a player), but he hasn't drawn any interest from any team?

 

[CalamityX11]

the first name i mentioned in this thread!!! hooray!!!!

deep threat obviously and adds size... lets roll!

 

[MHSL82]

Lockette, Jenkins, Patton will compete for Crabtree's spot | CSN Bay Area


"We'll put Jenkins, Patton, Ricardo Lockette at the same position and let them compete and emerge," Harbaugh said on the O'Connell and Steinmetz show. "The good news is somebody will emerge because they have to."

I think I posted this one before, but just in case: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/matt-maiocco/replacing-crabtree-not-one-man-job

 

[Bemular]

Lockette, Jenkins, Patton will compete for Crabtree's spot | CSN Bay Area


"We'll put Jenkins, Patton, Ricardo Lockette at the same position and let them compete and emerge," Harbaugh said on the O'Connell and Steinmetz show. "The good news is somebody will emerge because they have to."

I think I posted this one before, but just in case: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/matt-maiocco/replacing-crabtree-not-one-man-job

We now have the litmus test for how our depth is performing - No new acquisitions means they are stepping up - any new acquisitions means one or more of them are gone.

Starter injuries have a way of cleaning out the pantry. I hope there is no reason to acquire additional WR's and I hope there is no clear-cut winner in the competition!

 

[NinerSickness]

So Seattle's Anthony McCoy tore his achillies too, and he's expected to be out "6 to 9 months."

Anthony McCoy of Seattle Seahawks has surgery for torn Achilles - ESPN

If Crabby's out only 6 months, he should be able to play in a couple of games in the regular season. If he's out 9 months, his return would align very closely to the Super Bowl.

Players usually don't get back to 100% until well over a year after tearing an achilles though. This is a tough situation. I REALLY wish the Niners went after a WR in FA.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I don't like all the mentions I've seen of the Suggs injury. Suggs had a partial tear. It's not as serious an injury as Crabtree's complete tear. Crabtree will almost certainly be out a solid six months minimum, and even if he makes it back at that time, he'll still be affected by the injury. We need to accept the reality that any contribution he makes this year will be severely limited.

 

[numone9er]

I'm very optimistic about our other WR's. Obviously the Boldin trade was the thing to do for us. I'm looking forward to the Jenkins, Patton, Locette competition. Hopefully they are all trying to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

[deep9er]

I'm very optimistic about our other WR's. Obviously the Boldin trade was the thing to do for us. I'm looking forward to the Jenkins, Patton, Locette competition. Hopefully they are all trying to take advantage of the opportunity.

yes, and in the end it doesn't need to be only one of these guys. it could be mainly one, but with another playing too.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I'm very optimistic about our other WR's. Obviously the Boldin trade was the thing to do for us. I'm looking forward to the Jenkins, Patton, Locette competition. Hopefully they are all trying to take advantage of the opportunity.

I'm very interested to see what the young guys do. Wouldn't say I'm very optimistic. Perhaps cautiously optimistic.

 

[Yoshi]

I don't like all the mentions I've seen of the Suggs injury. Suggs had a partial tear. It's not as serious an injury as Crabtree's complete tear. Crabtree will almost certainly be out a solid six months minimum, and even if he makes it back at that time, he'll still be affected by the injury. We need to accept the reality that any contribution he makes this year will be severely limited.

Not to mention, Crabs has had a history of foot problems before. Prior injuries make a player more prone to be injured more, and in the case of Crabtree, this is what we have.

The positive about this injury is that it happened before training camp started so the wideouts expected to fill in will get that much more exposure in the Harbaugh/Roman offense.

 

[MHSL82]

Putting this in here because this is a trend that has to change with an offseason where receivers and TEs can work on Kaep's velocity of throws.

Drop rates: Percy Harvin, Mario Manningham zeroed in (Manningham and Harvin: 0 drops)

This includes both SF QBs last year, but I'm assuming the rate was the same or more for Kaepernick.

 

[MHSL82]

The obvious Kaepernick-to-Crabtree preference of targets.

Michael Crabtree fallout: Target rates telling - NFC West Blog

Target rich: Percy Harvin, Michael Crabtree, Danny Amendola

 

[MHSL82]

49ers Blog and Q&A: Crabtree injury: May gloom can end in February brilliance

I landed at San Francisco International Airport last night, turned on my phone for the first time in eight days and discovered 6,728 messages (only a slight exaggeration). Some thoughts on what prompted that flurry of activity:

* It's hard to overstate Michael Crabtree's importance to the 49ers' passing game. He obviously was Colin Kaepernick's favorite receiver (a whopping 92 targets in the 10 games Kaepernick started) last season, and moreover was Kaepernick's go-to receiver on critical plays and third downs. San Francisco's final attempts to score at the end of the Super Bowl clearly illustrate Kaepernick's comfort and confidence in Crabtree.

The doom and gloom about the 49ers' 2013 prospects, however, aren't taking into account recent history. Terrell Suggs' Achilles injury last year has been cited often in the last week because the Ravens' inside linebacker was able to return to field at midseason (Oct. 21). But it's perhaps more notable because the Ravens ended up winning the Super Bowl. The same apocalyptic headlines about the 49ers were being applied to the Ravens at this time last year. In fact, Baltimore dealt with major injuries to Suggs and inside linebacker Ray Lewis and still won a championship. Which is to say that injuries, including springtime injuries, can be overcome.

And you can bet Jim Harbaugh will find a way to use Crabtree's injury as a psychological advantage. It only reinforces the us-vs.-the world, band-of-brothers mentality the 49ers head coach has successfully fostered in Santa Clara.

* The bad news about the Suggs comparison ... The Ravens linebacker suffered his injury a bit earlier than Crabtree, on April 29. What's more significant is that Suggs' was a partial tear. Crabtree's reportedly is a complete tear. It not only will take longer for the tendon to heal, it will take longer for the muscles in Crabtree's right leg - especially his calf - to be back to full strength. Crabtree's game centers around making sharp cuts and exploding upfield. The big question now is when he will be able to regain that explosion.

* The key for the 49ers is third down. According to STATS LLC, Crabtree ranked fifth in the league last year with 22 catches in which the 49ers converted third downs into first downs. What's more, he ranked second when the scenario was third-and-7 or longer. He caught 11 such passes while Indianapolis' Reggie Wayne caught 12. As you'll recall, Crabtree caught many of those passes well short of the first-down marker and then bulled his way through the defense for first downs.

* Who takes over that role? Anquan Boldin is the obvious choice. He led the Ravens with 16 catches that converted third downs to first downs and eight that converted third-and-longs to first downs (in 15 starts). That doesn't include the critical third-and-short conversion in the Super Bowl in which he was well-covered by Carlos Rogers.

* What about Randy Moss? The veteran receiver wants to play in 2013 and remains an option. However, the 49ers know what they have in Moss. What they don't know is what they have in players like A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton and Ricardo Lockette (whom I wrote about last week). Unless the 49ers sense that another team may snap up Moss, it makes sense to hold off for now at least while those younger players get critical exposure during OTAs and minicamps.

* One more note: Another shame as far as Crabtree's injury is that it came the same day as the 49ers' and the Bay Area's Super Bowl L achievement and overshadowed Jed York's triumph. The area landed the marquee Super Bowl because York was able to build a stadium in California, something no other NFL has been able to do. That deserves a bow.

 

[deep9er]

Boldin is working out as the “Z” receiver, which typically means he’s on the right side of the formation with the tight end. This was a featured position in the West Coast offense because the Z would work in a combination route with the tight end and running back, which allowed the quarterback three options on one side of the field.

Meanwhile the “X” would often work alone on the back side of the formation. For now, the 49ers are putting veteran players like Boldin, Marlon Moore, Joe Hastings and Chad Hall at the “Z.” Meanwhile the younger players like A.J. Jenkins, rookie Quinton Patton and Ricardo Lockett are working at the “X.”

Harbaugh said that Jenkins, Patton and Lockett are in competition, so he wants to see them running the same routes. Also, the “X” receiver typically features the fastest player and the one that is most apt to beat man coverage at the line of scrimmage.



had Crabtree not been injured, would he or Boldin have be the 'X'? my first guess was Crabtree due to thinking he's a little better getting open? but wasn't he the Z all of last year? if so, i'd have left him there as the more primary WR, and Boldin would've been the X.