Crabtree's perforance vs Lions

[Geraint]

Did quite well for a no.3 WR

 

[BINGO]

Crabtree had a very good game today. Came through for the most part.

Alex did sail his passes, got me worried and thinking about dead arm???

Even so, the more reason why I think Alex needs tall WRs...

Brady, Eli, Manning, Rodgers, Romo, etc. are doing it with smalle/average size receivers. Should't NEED all this help. The guy is open...get him the ball at the right location. Is that really too much to ask?!

 

[CalamityX11]

Brady, Eli, Manning, Rodgers, Romo, etc. are doing it with smalle/average size receivers. Should't NEED all this help. The guy is open...get him the ball at the right location. Is that really too much to ask?!

Brady at one time had Moss but yes generally his WRs are small.

Eli has Nicks, MM, Smith(who was their smallest) & Boss(had)/Ballard.

Manning makes anyone look good.

Rodgers WRs are not small.

Romo has big targets in Bryant, Austin, Witten(before Roy, TO)....

I agree Alex needs to place the ball much better but for our sake we need someone with hops to catch those passes lol.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Brady at one time had Moss but yes generally his WRs are small.

Eli has Nicks, MM, Smith(who was their smallest) & Boss(had)/Ballard.

Manning makes anyone look good.

Rodgers WRs are not small.

Romo has big targets in Bryant, Austin, Witten(before Roy, TO)....

I agree Alex needs to place the ball much better but for our sake we need someone with hops to catch those passes lol.

Seriously. Witten is 6'6". Bryant and Austin are both 6'2". Hell, so it Laurent Robinson. Even their "small" guy in Ogletree is 6'1". Not to mention Bennett at 6'6" and Phillips at 6'5".

Smith needs to get his throws down, especially when he looks at Crabtree over the middle. But he does lack a tall target. Getting Edwards back should help. I was really missing him in the red zone this week....

 

[EaseUrStorm]

Brady, Eli, Manning, Rodgers, Romo, etc. are doing it with smalle/average size receivers. Should't NEED all this help. The guy is open...get him the ball at the right location. Is that really too much to ask?!

I can't remember that many (any?) passes where Crabtree has been hit between the numbers in stride. I still think it comes back to lack of practice time between the two despite how long they've been together. It's almost like Alex Smith gets nervous throwing to him with these consistent air-mails.

On the other side, Crabtree does like to attack passes, and some of them might look off because of the sharp angles he's taking.

If they ever do get on the same page, he can use his quickness against #2's. Vernon Davis being doubled is really opening things up for when Braylong comes back. Crabtree needs to become the hot read like Morgan was. That's where he can potentially do some damage.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Crabtree did OK. Still needs to learn to run his third down routes beyond the sticks however.

 

[southbaysportsfan]

I can't remember that many (any?) passes where Crabtree has been hit between the numbers in stride. I still think it comes back to lack of practice time between the two despite how long they've been together. It's almost like Alex Smith gets nervous throwing to him with these consistent air-mails.

On the other side, Crabtree does like to attack passes, and some of them might look off because of the sharp angles he's taking.

If they ever do get on the same page, he can use his quickness against #2's. Vernon Davis being doubled is really opening things up for when Braylong comes back. Crabtree needs to become the hot read like Morgan was. That's where he can potentially do some damage.

Agreed, but when Alex does hit him in the numbers he drops it!

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Agreed, but when Alex does hit him in the numbers he drops it!

I'm not sure who drops more balls, Crabtree or Walker.

 

[deep9er]

Just speculating here, but maybe it's because he's been out with a foot injury? They seemed more in sync last year, but i would hope that they start to get on the same page within the next couple of weeks.

yep, they'll (including Edwards) have to work on throws going 12 yards and more. also appeared Smith is throwing a LITTLE behind on longer passes?

 

[EaseUrStorm]

Agreed, but when Alex does hit him in the numbers he drops it!

Knew that was coming. I notice a lot of his dropped passes are when he's standing still. Over the bye the passing game will be getting attention, so hopefully the timing between them is something that can be worked out a little. Crabtree (like him or not) will make it hard on #2 CB's.

I do like the effort he showed going after a lot of those high passes. Much better than last year when he was alligator arming some Troy Smith passes.

 

[1911Alaska]

Did quite well for a no.3 WR

yes. but being a former top 10 pick I would say he has been quite disappointing so far.

 

[MW49ers5]

Kid has a lot of work to do before he is a dependable and a bonafide threat as a #2 WR.

 

[CalamityX11]

No approval of Crabtree's game from sunday?

 

[Crimsoncrew]

One thing I feel compelled to mention is that Crabtree was open a lot in this game. While quite a few throws were off, he was free coming across the middle repeatedly. He and Smith need to figure out their rapport, but if Smith can hit him on those mid-level and deeper routes across the middle, he can be pretty dangerous.

 

[Yoshi]

The go to guys in this game were definitely Walker and Crabby. With that said, I actually expect Crabby to get more stats each week considering he's still developing time with Alex.

Yeah, I know, I can't believe I'm saying that, but in all earnest, Crabby should improve over the course of the season especially since he's still essentially getting his feet wet with the playbook Harbs is implementing. This is obviously not the same system that TTU ran back in the day.

What bugs me about Crabby is what others have said, why are you completing your routes before the markers? Crabby actually has some hops (i.e. the negated TD pass against the Bungles), his hands are better than average, and his route running is actually improving. However, it's his lack of wanting to play in preseason in addition to not having those intangibles you look for in great players who can improvise.

 

[MW49ers5]

No approval of Crabtree's game from sunday?

Sure, I mean, I certainly have no disapproval. His game was precisely what I expected it would be, a lot of targets, average production. My hope was that he was going to have 10+ catch day for twice the production.

 

[MW49ers5]

One thing I feel compelled to mention is that Crabtree was open a lot in this game. While quite a few throws were off, he was free coming across the middle repeatedly. He and Smith need to figure out their rapport, but if Smith can hit him on those mid-level and deeper routes across the middle, he can be pretty dangerous.

You know, Crabtree has horrible field awareness (and although you disagree, his instincts are not much better). This is the fourth, maybe even the fifth deep cross that has wound up in the arms of the other team. Furthermore, three of those four (or five) have been by three different QB's. (Carr overthrew Crabtree on a deep cross vs. Carolina and T.Smith overthrew Crabtree on a deep cross vs. St. Louis)

Considering Crabtree's deficiencies, I'm not 100% convinced these long throws are not actually just short routes. Not saying they are, just sayin.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Sure, I mean, I certainly have no disapproval. His game was precisely what I expected it would be, a lot of targets, average production. My hope was that he was going to have 10+ catch day for twice the production.

If Smith was on target, he has 10+ catches. He didn't bring in the one semi-difficult ball, and failed to get both feet down lunging for the endzone. Other than that, he caught everything that came his way that he had a legitimate shot at, including one or two very high balls.

He's obviously still not where he needs to be, but of those 15 targets, at least five were not catchable.

 

[SY8goat]

You know, Crabtree has horrible field awareness (and although you disagree, his instincts are not much better). This is the fourth, maybe even the fifth deep cross that has wound up in the arms of the other team. Furthermore, three of those four (or five) have been by three different QB's. (Carr overthrew Crabtree on a deep cross vs. Carolina and T.Smith overthrew Crabtree on a deep cross vs. St. Louis)

Considering Crabtree's deficiencies, I'm not 100% convinced these long throws are not actually just short routes. Not saying they are, just sayin.

According to Sando's blog, Smith said there was miscommunication on the INT. Did crabs screw up? Possibly...

This game made Crabtree look more like a possession receiver, not an Elite one. Though, it was his chance to shine!

 

[EaseUrStorm]

If Crabtree can do what he did against the Lions the rest of the way, that works for me. A lot of receivers wouldn't pull those in. Alex Smith can hit the open medium passes. It's one strength that he's shown before this year. It's just a matter of getting the timing down with Crabtree which has been so frustrating. This issue is on tape right before the bye, and should get a lot of attention from the coaches. Should be able to take that and focus on timing, mechanics, and making sure Crabtree consistently is where he's supposed to be. That should help Alex relax a little and not air-mail.

It's a lot easier to work through the timing during games at 5-1 with Braylon coming back, than at the beginning of the year. I didn't want the ball anywhere near Crabtree in those first few games, but now it's a green light to see what happens. I expect a few 100 yd games from Crabtree as he's in a favorable spot and actually practicing.